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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•a^D* 


PRESENTED  BY 


The  Estate  of 
Philip  H,  Waddell  Smith 


BV  3785  .S86  B76  1914 
Brown,  Elijah  P.,  1842-1933 
The  real  Billy  Sunday 


THE   REAL  BILLY   SUNDAY 


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The  Real  Billy  Sunday 

The  Life  and  Work  of 
REV.  WILLIAM  ASHLEY  SUNDAY,  D.D. 

The  Baseball  Evangelist 


BY 

ELIJAH   P.    BROWN,  D.D. 

(Ram's  Horn  Brown) 


Illustrated 


New  York         Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming   H.  Revell   Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  IQU,  by 
WILLIAM  A.   SUNDAY 


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a.  fLutiZ^^  ytc^  ^^i/j,  O^cAj  /M^^r-A^ 


CONTENTS 

Introductory ii 

I    Sunday's  Birth  and  Boyhood  .       .       .  15 

II     Sunday  Leaves  the  Davenport  Home  .  26 

III  The  Baseball  Player's  Conversion      .  35 

IV  An  Active  Member  of  a  Live  Church  .  44 
V     Playing   Ball  and   Giving   Religious 

Talks 56 

VI     Meets  His  Future  Wife  at  a  Prayer 

Meeting 64 

VII     Leaves  Baseball  to  Engage  in  Reli- 
gious Work 70 

VIII     Beginning   of   Sunday's   Evangelistic 

Career 79 

IX     From  Tent  to  Tabernacle  Meetings    .  94 
X     Style    and    Character    of    Sunday's 

Preaching        ......  106 

XI     Last  Day  of  the  Burlington  Meeting  116 

XII    Extracts  from  Sermons   ....  122 

XIII  A    Present-Day    Sunday    Tabernacle 

Meeting 137 

XIV  Special  Features  Connected  with  the 

Sunday    Meetings 149 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

XV     Some  of  Sunday's  Sayings       .       .       .  165 

XVI     Sunday's  Home  and  Other  Family  Af- 
fairs      174 

XVII     Results  of  Meetings  in  Various  Places  185 
XVIII     Sunday's     Ordination     and     Various 

Other   Matters 200 

XIX     A  Hard  Hitter  of  the  Liquor  Traffic  208 
XX     Sunday's    Versatility — Royal    Recep- 
tion AT  Columbus 215 

XXI     Some  Personal  Matters   ....  225 

Sermons  : 

The    Three    Groups 237 

■    Under    the    Sun 257 

Wonderful 272 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGB 


William  A.  Sunday Frontispiece 

Sunday's  First  Home 15 

William  Sunday,  Father  of  the  Evan!2:eHst       .        .  20 

Mother  of  the  Evangelist 29 

Certified   Copy   of   Record   in   Adjutant-General's 

Office,  State  of  Iowa,  Showing  Enlistment  and 

Death  of  Mr.  Sunday's  Father       ....  32 

Squire  Martin  Corey,  Mr.  Sunday's  Grandfather  .  49 
At     the     Ages     of     Twenty-three,     Twenty-four, 

Twenty-five  and  Thirty 54 

Sunday  in  His  Old  National  League  Uniform  .  59 
Old  Sofa  from  the  Thompson  Home,  "  Just  Big 

Enough  for  Two  " 68 

Mrs.  W.  A.  Sunday yy 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Thompson,  Mrs.  Sunday's 

Father  and  Mother 83 

"  Billy,"  Roy  and  Ed 94 

The   Day    Before — What   Happened   to    Sunday's 

Last  Tent  on  the  Closing  Day  at  Salida,  Col.     .  103 

One  of  the  Earlier  Tabernacles 106 

My  First  Bible — A  Worn-out  Bible  .        .        .        .112 

"  Billy  "Jr. 129 

As  He  Looks  To-day *       •  I35 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sunday,  Helen,  "  Billy  "  Jr.,  George, 

Paul 138 

**  Be  It  Ever  So  Humble,  There's  No  Place  Like 

Home " 149 

Living    Room    and    Dining    Room    in    Home    at 

Winona  Lake,  Ind 156 

9 


10  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACIN<; 
PAGE 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sunday  on  the  Golf  Links  ^  .  .  163 
As  He  Appears  at  Home,  Between  Meetings  .  .  174 
"  Billy  "  and  "  Ma  "  Sunday  Returning  from  an 

Afternoon  Meeting 180 

Pittsburg  Tabernacle — Estimated  Seating  Capacity 

15,000 189 

A  Single  Sheet  from  Mr.  Sunday's  Sermon  Notes  .     240 
Meeting  for  "  Men  Only/'  Columbus,  O.     Thou- 
sands Unable  to  Gain  Admittance  ....     257 
"  Women     Only "     Meeting,     Thousands     Being 

Turned  Away     . 260 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sunday  Leading  22,000  People  in 

Sunday  School  Parade  at  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.       .     269 
Bidding  the  Sundays  Good-by  at  Close  of  a  Cam- 
paign      278 


INTRODUCTORY 

THE  making  of  this  book  has  not  been  undertaken 
as  a  defense  of  Mr.  Sunday,  for  he  needs  none ; 
the  Master  whom  he  so  energetically  serves 
having  put  His  seal  upon  his  labors  in  a  way  that  the 
whole  continent  has  been  compelled  to  take  note  of. 
But  the  book  is  put  into  the  hand  of  the  reader  with 
the  hope  and  the  prayer  that  through  it  he  may  come 
to  know  the  real  Billy  Sunday,  and  learn  how  won- 
drously  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  using  him. 

I  undertook  this  work  believing  that  I  ought  to  do  it. 
Some  years  ago  I  was  with  Mr.  Sunday  as  his  confidential 
assistant,  and  so  came  to  know  him  intimately.  This  ' 
made  me  conversant  with  the  way  in  which  his  great 
campaigns  are  conducted,  and  gave  me  a  knowledge  of 
the  details  and  machinery  of  his  meetings.  Having  been 
a  student  of  character  all  my  life,  I  do  not  believe  any 
other  man  has  a  clearer  comprehension  of  the  real  Sun- 
day than  myself.  Others  who  have  been  associated  with 
him  may  possibly  know  him  as  well,  but  I  am  confident 
no  one  can  know  him  better. 

I  made  his  acquaintance  soon  after  his  conversion, 
and  have  kept  in  touch  with  him  ever  since.  I  have 
summered  and  wintered  with  him.  Have  eaten  and 
slept  with  him.  I  have  seen  him  in  the  limelight  and  in 
private  life.  I  know  his  great  passion  for  souls,  and  „ 
how  it  drives  him  to  pour  out  his  life  and  strength  in 
trying  to  win  them.  I  know  how  he  preaches  and  what 
he  preaches  for.    I  know  how  he  lives,  and  I  know  how 

11 


12  INTRODUCTORY 

he  gives,  and  I  know  that  he  hasn't  a  drop  of  mercenary- 
blood  in  his  veins.  I  know  how  he  tithes  every  dollar 
of  his  income.  I  know  how  religiously  and  quietly  he 
is  continually  doing  good  with  his  money.  I  know  of 
many  struggling  ones  whose  hearts  he  gladdens  with 
timely  help;  of  missions  and  struggling  causes  he  aids, 
and  I  know  of  poor  families  supported  by  his  bounty. 

I  know  that  however  unconventional  his  language  may 
be,  his  preaching  has  in  it  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the 
power  of  Christ,  and  that  it  accomplishes  what  Christ 
commissioned  His  disciples  to  do.  I  know  that  he  believes 
the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and  believes  himself 
to  be  a  messenger  from  God.  I  know  that  he  fears 
neither  man  nor  devil  when  he  stands  in  the  pulpit,  and 
if  it  came  to  a  test  would  go  to  the  stake  for  his  faith. 
A  more  honest  or  zealous  man  I  have  never  known. 
He  puts  his  very  life  and  soul  into  every  message  he 
gives,  and  has  kept  on  the  go  nearly  all  the  year  round 
for  years  without  rest. 

This  is  the  man  in  whose  wake  new  buildings  spring 
up  for  churches  and  Christian  Associations  for  both 
young  men  and  young  women.  The  man  who  quickens 
the  religious  life  of  every  church  within  fifty  miles  of 
where  he  preaches ;  even  of  those  that  antagonize  his 
meetings.  This  is  the  man  whose  preaching  makes  reli- 
gion something  more  than  a  name  to  conjure  with.  This 
is  the  man  whom  not  only  the  common  people,  but  all 
kinds  of  people  hear  gladly,  because  they  can  understand 
him. 

This  is  the  man  whose  preaching  makes  people  pay 
debts  that  have  been  outlawed,  and  brings  long  separated 
husbands  and  wives  together  in  loving  reconciliation. 
The  preaching  that  fills  every  church  in  the  community 
with  new  life  and  new  blood ;  makes  a  market  for  Bibles 


INTRODUCTORY  19 

by  the  ten  thousand,  and  makes  religion  the  chief  topic 
of  conversation  everywhere.  His  preaching  creates  re- 
spect for  the  Sabbath  and  the  house  of  God;  makes  it 
easier  to  enforce  the  law^s;  reduces  crime,  and  slaps  the 
devil  squarely  in  the  face  wherever  he  shows  his  cloven 
hoof.  It  closes  saloons  and  opens  prayer  meetings,  and 
rekindles  the  fire  on  burnt  out  family  altars. 

Mr.  Sunday  is  not  an  uncertainty  or  an  experiment. 
From  his  first  meeting  to  his  last  he  has  had  unbroken 
success.  He  has  never  held  a  meeting  that  did  not  result  i 
in  a  revival  that  reached  the  whole  community,  and  he 
has  never  preached  in  a  building  large  enough  to  admit 
all  who  thronged  to  hear  him.  There  were  places  where 
Moody  failed,  and  there  have  been  places  where  all 
great  evangelists  have  failed,  but  Sunday  has  never 
failed  anywhere.  He  has  been  holding  great  evangelistic 
meetings  for  almost  twenty  years,  nearly  every  one  in 
a  tabernacle  built  especially  for  it,  and  almost  every  meet- 
ing has  been  greater  than  the  last.  His  converts  are 
numbered  by  multitudes,  and  will  compare  with  those 
who  have  accepted  Christ  in  any  meeting. 

Nicodemus  was  not  blind  in  both  eyes  when  he  said 
to  Jesus :  *'  No  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou 
doest  except  God  be  with  him."  And  this  is  the  message 
the  Master  gave  to  the  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist: 
**  Go  your  way,  and  tell  John  what  things  ye  have  seen 
and  heard;  how  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers 
are  cleansed,  the  dead  are  raised,  to  the  poor  the  gospel 
is  preached."  Try  Billy  Sunday  by  this  test,  and  every 
unprejudiced  Christian  man  will  be  compelled  to  admit 
that  he  is  a  man  sent  of  God. 

Elijah  P.  Brown. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 


SUNDAYS    FIRST    HOME. 


SUNDAY'S  BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD 

IN  a  little  log  cabin  of  two  rooms,  floored  with  rough 
boards,  a  fireplace  of  flagstones,  a  chimney  of  un- 
barked  logs  plastered  with  clay,  small  windows  and 
a  low-hung  roof — the  typical  home  of  the  midwestern 
pioneer — in  these  lowly  surroundings  was  born  William 
Ashley  Sunday,  to  whom  it  has  been  given  as  to  no  other 
American  to  turn  many  to  righteousness. 

This  humble  dwelling  is  still  standing  in  Story  County, 
Iowa,  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  city  of  Ames.  Four 
months  before  his  birth,  on  November  19,  1862,  his 
father,  William  Sunday,  marched  away  from  his  home, 
to  the  sound  of  fife  and  drum,  a  soldier  of  the  Union. 
The  father  never  came  back.  Death  ended  his  service, 
and  his  grave  is  unknown. 

Edward  Sunday,  a  brother  now  living  in  North  Dakota, 
was  two  years  old  when  William  was  born.  Albert,  two 
years  older  than  Edward,  died  in  1893. 

Previous  to  the  birth  of  his  son  William  Sunday  wrote 
home  from  the  front  that  if  his  child  were  a  boy,  he 
wanted  him  to  be  called  William  Ashley.  This  was 
done,  though  no  member  of  the  family  has  been  able 
to  tell  why  the  middle  name  of  Ashley  was  chosen. 

William  Sunday  was  a  contractor  and  brickmason.  He 
built  one  of  the  first  brick  buildings  in  Cedar  Rapids, 
Iowa;  a  house  that  is  still  standing.  He  was  also  a 
violinist  of  considerable  repute.  When  the  call  came 
for  volunteers  he  enlisted  at  once.    In  fording  a  stream 

15 


16  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

he  was  wet  to  the  skin,  contracted  a  severe  cold,  from 
the  effects  of  which  he  died  in  camp,  probably  of  pneu- 
monia. He  was  buried  at  Camp  Patterson,  Mo.  His 
body  was  afterward,  it  is  beheved,  removed  to  a  new 
resting-place  near  Washington  Barracks,  at  St.  Louis. 
Persistent  efforts  have  been  made  in  recent  years  to 
identify  this  grave,  but  without  success.  William  Sunday 
had  a  sister,  Mary  Simmons,  who  went  as  a  pioneer 
with  him. 

The  babyhood  days  of  William  Ashley  were  spent  in 
the  log  cabin.  The  burden  of  the  family  rested  heavily 
upon  the  soldier's  widow.  Yet  with  a  true  mother's 
heroism  she  faced  the  trying  situation  bravely,  and 
struggled  as  only  a  mother  can  to  keep  her  babies  to- 
gether. For  a  time  she  succeeded,  but  no  one  will  ever 
know  all  the  heartaches,  cares  and  distresses  endured 
by  her  in  those  trying  days.  Yet  that  she  lived  true 
to  the  duties  of  motherhood,  rearing  her  boys  in  the 
way  they  should  go,  and  inculcating  principles  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  is  happily  evident  to-day.  This 
mother  is  now  a  loved  and  revered  member  of  the 
evangelist's  family  circle. 

During  the  first  three  years  of  his  life  Billy  was  any- 
thing but  a  healthy  child,  and  his  mother  and  her  rela- 
tives often  despaired  of  his  life.  He  was  small  at  birth, 
lacking  in  strength,  and  for  some  reason  did  not  gain 
rapidly,  as  his  brothers  had  done.  Then  an  old  French 
doctor,  living  in  the  neighborhood,  prescribed  some  herb 
remedies  that  seemed  to  be  just  the  thing,  for  they  soon 
had  the  boy  going  toward  robust  health.  This  is  prob- 
ably the  reason  why  he  often  gives  expression  to  a 
theory  that  in  weeds,  herbs  and  shrubs  will  some  day 
be  found  the  cure  for  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to. 


BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  IT 

A  farmer  in  the  neighborhood  gave  the  little  boy  one 
of  the  first  jobs  he  ever  had.  He  rode  one  of  the  lead 
horses  of  a  four-horse  team  hitched  to  a  reaper  for  eight 
days,  for  twenty-five  cents  a  day.  When  the  child  reached 
home  at  the  end  of  the  work  he  was  sore  in  every  part 
of  his  little  body,  and  his  eyes  had  been  almost  blinded 
by  the  sun,  but  he  was  happy  in  the  possession  of  a 
two-dollar  bill.  His  cup  of  joy  was  made  to  run  clear 
over  when  he  found  that  while  he  had  been  away  his 
mother  had  made  for  him  his  first  hickory  shirt. 

Sunday  had  a  half-sister  whose  death  came,  some  time 
before  this,  from  burns  received  in  a  bonfire  accident. 
His  mother  had  a  small  picture  of  this  sister,  and  in  his 
boyish  impulsiveness,  he  at  once  decided  to  spend  his 
hardly  earned  two  dollars  in  having  it  enlarged  and 
framed.  This  crayon  enlargement  is  still  in  possession 
of  the  family. 

A  feature  of  Sunday's  boyhood,  which  he  remembers 
well,  had  to  do  with  a  sugarcane  mill  built  and  operated 
by  his  grandfather.  This  mill  was  a  rude  device  used 
to  crush  and  squeeze  the  sap  from  the  cane.  A  raw- 
boned  swaybacked  plug  of  a  horse,  going  round  and 
round  in  a  ring,  furnished  the  motive  power,  and  Albert, 
Edward  and  Will  took  turns  as  engineers.  Then  the 
boys,  when  mere  youngsters,  learned  to  tend  the  fires, 
which  boiled  the  sap  to  the  consistency  of  thick  sorghum 
molasses.  After  the  juice  once  began  to  boil  it  had  to 
be  kept  going  without  cooling  until  finished.  Otherwise 
it  was  about  sure  to  sour. 

While  the  boiling  was  going  on  a  great  deal  of  skim- 
ming had  to  be  done,  to  take  out  the  impurities  thus 
brought  to  the  surface.  This  often  kept  the  fires  going 
late  into  the  night,  and  sometimes  till  after  midnight. 
These  sugaring-off  nights  in  the  heart  of  a  western  wood 


18  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

were  just  what  a  boy  liked,  and  that  is  why  they  are  so 
well  remembered.  The  boys  learned  to  cut  wood,  build 
fences,  care  for  horses  on  the  farm  of  their  grandfather, 
and  milk  ten  or  a  dozen  cows  a  day. 

When  Sunday  was  a  small  boy,  he  was  one  day  hailed 
on  the  street  by  a  man  who  had  the  reputation  of  being 
as  tight  as  the  bark  on  a  tree. 

"  Do  you  know  burdock,  sonny  ?  '*  asked  the  man. 

"  Sure  I  do,"  said  Billy. 

"  My  wife  is  sick.  Get  me  a  good  bunch  of  it  quick, 
and  I'll  give  you  a  nickel." 

Away  went  the  boy  on  the  run  to  his  home  on  the 
farm  two  miles  away,  and  was  soon  busy  in  a  big  patch 
of  burdock.  In  a  remarkably  short  time  he  had  a  hatful 
of  fine  roots,  which  he  carefully  washed,  and  then  hurried 
with  them  to  his  man,  but  only  to  hear  him  say: 

"  I  don't  need  'em  now,  bub.  Another  fellow  come 
along  with  plenty  of  burdock,  and  I  got  all  I  wanted 
from  him." 

The  poor  boy  instantly  felt  the  milk  of  human  kindness 
sour  in  him,  and  going  slowly  to  the  creek,  he  threw  the 
roots  into  the  deepest  place  he  could  find,  and  then 
stoned  them  until  the  last  bitter  root  sank  out  of  sight. 
He  remembers  no  greater  disappointment  of  his  boyhood 
days. 

Thirty  years  later  Sunday  was  preaching  to  a  great 
audience  in  a  town  in  Iowa,  and  ''  old  Burdock  "  was  in 
the  meeting.  He  told  every  one  near  him  that  he  knew 
the  preacher  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  and  at  the  close 
he  went  up  and  made  as  much  fuss  over  Billy  as  he 
would  have  done  had  he  been  his  own  son.  Sunday  of 
course  remembered  the  man  and  his  meanness,  in 
swindling  a  child  out  of  his  hard-earned  nickel. 

Billy  was  one  day  out  in  the  garden  with  his  grand- 


BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  19^ 

father,  and  for  a  time  both  were  busy  pulling  weeds — and 
then  the  most  casual  observer  would  have  seen  with  one 
eye  that  only  the  grandsire  was  diligent.  It  was  one  of 
the  hardest  days  anybody  ever  saw  for  a  little  boy  to 
be  thrifty.  It  was  such  a  fine  balmy  day  that  fish  would 
almost  jump  out  of  the  water  to  bite,  and  soon  Billy's 
thoughts  and  desires  were  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half 
away  from  that  truck  patch. 

His  grandfather  was  weeding  away  so  busily  that  he 
failed  to  notice  that  the  boy  wasn't  keeping  up  with  his 
row,  and  was  rather  startled  when  he  looked  up  and 
saw  the  little  dreamer  sitting  in  the  shade  under  a  currant 
bush. 

''  Hello,  son ;  what  are  you  doing  there  ?  "  queried  the 
old  gentleman. 

"  I  was  just  a- thinking,  grandfather." 

*'  Thinking  ?    Thinking  about  what  ?  " 

*'  Thinking  about  what  I'm  going  to  do  when  I  get  to 
be  a  man." 

"  And  what  do  you  think  you  are  going  to  do  then  ?  " 

"  I  think  I'm  not  going  to  pull  weeds  when  I  get  to  be 
a  man.  I'm  going  to  hunt  around  and  find  a  good  job 
I  can  work  at  with  my  head.'* 

And  he  certainly  kept  his  word,  though  he  probably 
exercises  about  every  muscle  in  his  body  every  time  he 
preaches.  At  all  events  his  exertion  keeps  him  in  such 
splendid  physical  trim  that  he  can  go  out  and  play  a 
game  of  baseball  without  being  sore. 

One  newspaper  had  a  careful  estimate  made,  and  de- 
clared that  Sunday  traveled  a  mile  in  every  sermon,  and 
covered  something  over  a  hundred  miles  on  the  platform 
in  every  campaign. 

Many  of  the  incidents  of  Sunday's  boyhood  whicb 
would   delight   readers    to-day   have    slipped    from   his 


go  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

mother's  memory,  but  one  in  particular  she  remembers 
clearly. 

When  he  was  only  three  or  four  years  old  his  grand- 
mother died,  and  her  death  and  burial  in  midwinter 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  child.  The  graveyard 
was  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  home,  and  one 
morning,  several  days  after  the  funeral,  the  mother 
missed  the  boy,  but  found  it  easy  to  trace  him  by  his 
little  footprints  in  the  snow.  She  found  him  at  the  grave 
of  his  grandmother,  kneeling  beside  it  and  saying  a  little 
prayer  she  had  taught  him. 

Billy  went  to  the  neighborhood  school,  the  typical 
country  district  school,  where  the  pupils  sat  on  rough 
benches  and  learned  the  "  Three  R's  "  after  a  much  ruder 
fashion  than  is  known  to-day.  Later  he  went  to  one  of 
the  grade  schools  in  Ames. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  longer  give  the  boys  the  proper 
care  at  home,  and  believing  that  it  would  give  them  a 
much  better  chance  in  life,  the  mother  of  Edward  and 
William  decided,  though  with  much  reluctance,  to  send 
them  to  the  Soldiers'  Orphans  Home,  at  Glenwood,  Iowa. 
In  one  of  his  sermons  Sunday  most  touchingly  tells  the 
tender  story  of  the  parting : 

"  Four  months  before  I  was  born  my  father  went  to 
the  war,  in  Company  E  of  the  Tv/enty-third  Iowa.  I 
have  fought  and  struggled  since  I  was  six  years  old. 
I  know  all  about  the  dark  and  seamy  side  of  life.  If 
a  man  ever  fought  for  everything  he  gained,  I  have.  The 
wolf  scratched  at  the  cabin  door,  and  scratched  so  hard 
that  finally  my  poor  mother  had  to  say  to  my  brother 
Ed  and  me — 

" '  Boys,  I'm  going  to  send  you  to  the  Soldiers'  Or- 
phans Home ! ' 

"  She  took  us  to  Ames,  where  we  had  to  wait  a  long 


WILLIAM    SUNDAY,    FATHER    OF    THE    EVANGELIST. 


BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  9A 

time  for  the  train.  We  went  to  a  little  hotel  near  the 
depot  to  wait.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  some- 
body came  and  said — 

"  '  Get  ready  for  the  train ;  it's  coming.' 

"  I  looked  into  my  mother's  face.  Her  eyes  were  red 
with  long  weeping,  for  the  poor  woman  didn't  have 
money  enough  to  pay  our  fare  all  the  way  to  Glenwood, 
where  the  Home  was. 

"  We  went  to  the  train,  where  mother  put  one  arm 
around  me,  and  the  other  about  Ed,  and  sobbed  as  if  her 
poor  heart  would  break.  People  walked  by,  looked  at 
us,  but  they  didn't  say  a  word.  Why?  They  didn't 
know,  and  if  they  had  they  wouldn't  have  cared.  But 
mother  knew;  yes,  and  she  knew  that  for  four  years 
she  wouldn't  see  her  boys. 

"We  got  into  a  car,  and  said,  *  Good-by,  mother,'  as 
the  train  started,  and  it  was  the  first  good-by  to  her  I 
had  ever  said.  The  last  we  saw  of  her  she  was  smiling 
upon  us  through  her  tears.  Yes;  mother  knew,  and 
mother  cared. 

"  We  reached  Council  Bluffs  early  in  the  morning.  It 
was  cold,  and  we  turned  our  little  thin  coat  collars  up 
around  our  necks  and  shivered.  We  saw  a  little  hotel, 
and  going  to  it  we  asked  a  woman  we  saw  there  for 
something  to  eat.    She  asked  our  names,  and  I  said : 

"  *  My  name  is  Willie  Sunday,  and  this  is  my  brother 
Ed.' 

''  *  And  where  are  you  going  ?  '  she  then  asked. 

"  *  To  the  Soldiers'  Orphans  Home  at  Glenwood,'  I 
told  her. 

"  She  wiped  her  eyes,  and  said,  *  My  husband  was  a 
soldier,  and  he  never  came  back.  He  wouldn't  turn  any 
one  away,  and  I  surely  won't  turn  you  boys  away.' 

"  She  put  her  arms  about  us,  and  said,  *  Come  on  in/ 


^2  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

''  She  gave  us  our  breakfast,  and  our  dinner  too. 
There  was  no  train  out  on  the  Burlington  till  afternoon. 
We  played  around  in  the  freight  yards  until  near  the 
time,  when  we  saw  a  freight  train  standing  on  the  track, 
and  climbed  into  the  caboose.  After  the  train  started 
the  conductor  came  along,  and  said : 

"  *  Where  are  your  tickets?  ' 

"  '  Ain't  got  any,'  said  I. 

*'  'Where's  your  money?  ' 

"  '  Ain't  got  any.' 

"  *  Then  I'll  have  to  put  you  off,'  he  said. 

"  We  commenced  to  cry.  My  brother  Ed  handed  him 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
Home.  As  he  read  it  his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  as 
he  handed  it  back,  he  said: 

" '  Just  sit  still,  boys ;  it  won't  cost  you  a  cent  to  ride 
on  my  train.' 

"  It  is  twenty  miles  from  Council  Bluffs  to  Glenwood, 
and  as  we  rounded  the  curve  the  conductor  said : 

"  '  There  is  the  Home  on  the  hill,  boys ! '  The  conduc- 
tor often  visited  us  at  the  Home,  and  never  failed  to  give 
us  candy,  peanuts  and  pennies.  He  was  afterwards  killed 
not  far  from  the  Home. 

"  We  were  there  about  a  year  and  a  half  when  the 
Home  was  discontinued,  and  the  children,  about  sixty 
in  all — were  transferred  to  the  Orphans'  Home  at  Daven- 
port, Iowa.'' 

In  the  Davenport  Home  young  Billy  had  the  advantage 
of  good  schooling  and  proper  religious  instruction,  and 
in  the  systematic  atmosphere  he  found  there,  he  was 
inspired  with  an  ambition  to  make  something  out  of  him- 
self. There  he  was  taught  to  be  earnest  and  energetic, 
painstaking  and  thorough  in  whatever  he  undertook. 

A  strong  religious  influence  filled  the  place,  and  what 


BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  23 

he  was  taught  there  of  religion  and  the  Bible  was  suf- 
ficent  to  make  him  a  believer  in  the  divine  authority  of 
the  Scriptures.  So  well  and  skillfully  was  he  filled  with 
Bible  knowledge  that  he  has  ever  since  been  free  from 
all  intellectual  doubt,  although  he  did  not  become  a  Chris- 
tian until  after  he  reached  man's  estate.  He  will  never 
cease  to  be  thankful  for  the  years  he  spent  in  the  Daven- 
port Home,  and  the  molding  influence  it  exerted  upon  all 
his  after  life. 

Sunday's  mother  was  a  Christian  woman,  and  although 
she  did  not  long  have  him  under  her  care,  like  the  mother 
of  Samuel  she  turned  his  little  feet  into  the  right  pathway. 

One  incident  connected  with  Billy's  stay  at  the  Glen- 
wood  Home  reveals  the  bent  of  the  boy's  mind  at  the 
time,  and  shov/s  why  he  has  waged  lifelong  antagonisrn 
against  oppression  of  the  weak  by  the  strong.  In  the 
school  were  boys  of  various  dispositions,  one  of  whom- 
was  the  typical  beefy  bully ;  a  boy  who  lorded  it  over  the 
others  just  because  he  thought  he  could.  Billy  had  never 
had  any  trouble  with  this  boy  himself,  but  it  stirred  him 
to  the  quick  to  see  how  arrogantly  and  overbearing  he 
behaved  toward  the  others. 

Finally  it  was  decided  in  a  little  group  of  boys  that 
this  state  of  affairs  must  stop,  and  it  fell  on  Billy  to 
champion  the  cause  of  the  weak. 

He  felt  sure  that  he  could  lick  the  bully,  and  was  more 
than  willing  to  try.  Fighting  in  school  was  of  course 
against  the  rules,  but  some  nights  later  the  bully  was 
"  dared  to  come  out."  So  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  out  crept  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  youngsters, 
clad  only  in  their  night  shirts  and  trousers,  and  stealthily- 
made  their  way,  through  windows  and  down  waterpipes, 
to  the  protecting  shadow  of  a  clump  of  trees  well  re* 
moved  from  the  school  building. 


24  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

In  the  dim  light  before  the  dawn  they  formed  a  ring, 
and  the  bully  went  into  it  with  a  chip  on  his  shoulder. 
But  zip !  that  moment  Billy  sent  it  flying,  and  before ' 
the  bully  could  get  over  his  astonishment,  rapid  and 
telling  blows  from  Billy's  fist  were  being  planted  in  his 
beefy  face. 

With  the  agility  of  a  cat  the  smaller  boy  danced  this 
way  and  that,  on  the  alert  for  openings,  into  which  he 
shot  with  all  the  energy  his  body  held.  The  fast  and 
furious  conflict,  in  all  of  which  Billy  was  giving  the  bully 
a  lot  of  punishment,  tickled  the  other  boys  mightily,  until 
the  snob  was  given  all  he  deserved.  The  victory  w^as  to 
Billy,  and  the  bully  was  quite  a  different  boy  afterward. 
That  early  morning  drubbing  was  probably  the  making 
of  him. 

At  the  Glenwood  school  a  strict  rule  required  prompt 
appearance  at  meals,  and  boys  who  were  not  on  hand  to 
the  dot  had  to  miss  both  that  meal  and  the  next.  Some- 
how or  other  Billy  found  it  hard  to  obey  that  rule.  In 
later  years  he  has  generally  been  "  Johnny  on  the  spot," 
but  in  that  time  he  had  to  miss  a  good  many  meals. 

To  miss  two  meals  a  day  is  not  a  good  thing  for  a 
growing  boy,  and  it  began  to  show  on  Billy  so  much 
that  it  greatly  worried  his  brother  Ed.  The  older  boy 
was  as  anxious  to  have  his  little  brother  look  well  as  the 
king's  steward  was  that  Daniel  should,  and  so  Ed  began 
to  scratch  his  head  and  do  some  thinking  himself. 

In  his  scratching  he  must  have  touched  the  right  spot, 
for  he  soon  managed  to  have  himself  assigned  to  the  task 
of  cleaning  the  kitchen.  When  his  work  there  was  fin- 
ished it  fell  upon  him  to  lock  the  door.  This  he  faith- 
fully did,  but  it  often  happened  that  little  Billy  was 
locked  in  the  kitchen.  The  plate  he  had  missed  at  the 
table  Ed  would  tuck  away  in  some  convenient  corner, 


BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  25 

and  in  spite  of  his  tardiness  Billy  waxed  fat  and  strong, 
and  soon  began  to  have  a  countenance  as  ruddy  as  that 
of  David  v^^hen  he  stood  before  Samuel. 

Revival  meetings  always  had  a  fascination  for  Sun- 
day, and  he  cannot  remember  a  time  when  he  did  not 
like  to  attend  them,  though  in  his  young  life  he  never 
had  a  thought  of  himself  becoming  an  evangelist. 

On  his  mother's  side  Sunday  is  descended  from  Lord 
William  Corey,  who  married  the  only  daughter  of  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  Both  of  his  great-grandfathers  on  the 
maternal  side  fought  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  One 
lost  a  leg  under  Anthony  Wayne  at  Brandy  wine,  and 
the  other  fought  under  Hull  at  Detroit.  His  grandfather 
and  General  Grant  were  boys  together.  His  grand- 
parents on  his  father's  side  were  born  in  Germany.  They 
settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  his  father  was  born  in  that 
state,  not  far  from  Chambersburg. 


II 

SUNDAY  LEAVES  THE  DAVENPORT  HOME 

SUNDAY  left  the  Home  at  Davenport  when  he  was 
fourteen  years  old.  Boys  were  discharged  by  age 
limitation  at  sixteen,  and  his  brother  Ed,  being  two 
years  older,  had  remained  his  full  time.  The  two 
brothers  were  so  much  to  each  other  that  Billy  couldn't 
think  of  being  left  alone,  and  so  chose  to  depart  with  Ed. 

The  boys  went  to  live  with  their  grandfather  on  a 
farm  near  Ames.  Squire  Corey  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  in  the  state.  He  was  a  man  of  hard  common- 
sense,  and  of  a  rough  and  ready  stamp.  He  was  some- 
what brusque  and  blunt  in  his  ways,  and  seldom  had 
much  to  say,  a  trait  in  which  his  famous  grandson  is 
much  like  him. 

As  a  boy  Sunday  had  the  same  highstrung  nervous 
nature  that  characterizes  him  to-day,  and  there  were 
times  when  the  seeming  harshness  of  his  grandfather 
cut  him  to  the  quick.  But  in  his  heart  the  old  gentleman 
had  a  lot  of  real  goodness,  and  had  a  great  love  for  Billy. 
He  showed  much  concern  for  the  boy's  best  interests, 
and  gave  him  good  counsel,  which,  being  remembered, 
exerted  a  wholesome  influence  on  all  his  after  life. 

Sunday's  mother  remembers  how  he  was  always  his 
grandfather's  favorite,  and  she  tells  how  proudly  he 
would  set  him  on  his  shoulder,  when  he  was  not  much 
more  than  big  enough  to  run  alone,  and  go  marching 
down  the  road  with  the  boy  holding  on  to  him  by  the 

26 


LEAVES  DAVENPORT  HOME  2T 

hair,  just  as  he  would  take  a  horse  by  the  mane  whenever 
he  was  set  on  its  back.  Sunday  still  remembers  the  days 
he  spent  on  his  grandfather's  farm  as,  in  the  main,  the 
happiest  in  his  boyhood  life. 

His  grandfather  was  a  most  genial  and  big-hearted  ' 
man.     He  never  turned  any  one  from  the  door  hungry.  ; 
He  was  of  the  pioneer  type,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  V 
settlers  in  the  state  of  Iowa,  having  located  there  in    | 
1848.     He  was  the  only  father  Sunday  ever  knew,  and     \ 
he  speaks  of  him  with  tender  affection  to  this  day.     He 
never  goes  near  the  city  of  Ames  but  that  he  visits  the 
old  home,  and  goes  out  to  the  old  cemetery  on  the  farm. 

Here  is  one  instance  of  the  way  in  which  his  grand- 
father's counsel  has  remained  with  him :  The  neighbor- 
hood was  stirred  by  interest  in  a  spelling  match,  in  which 
the  young  people  from  several  counties  were  to  take 
part.  Some  days  before  the  time  a  friend  of  the  Sunday 
boys  boasted  that  he  was  going  to  wear  a  white  store 
collar  to  the  spelling  match.  To  Billy  the  white  store 
collar  seemed  to  be  about  the  finest  thing  that  could  be 
thought  of,  and  so  he  went  to  his  grandfather  about  it. 

''  Listen  to  me,  son,"  said  the  old  man ;  "  it  is  not  what 
you  wear  on  you,  but  what  you  have  in  you  that  makes 
a  man.  Be  honest,  and  do  your  work  with  all  your 
might,  and  then  some  day  you  won't  have  to  wear  a 
white  collar  to  make  folks  look  up  to  you." 

The  boy  caught  the  idea,  and  was  so  cheered  by  it 
that  he  went  to  the  spelling  bee  in  a  happy  and  contented 
frame  of  mind.  Often  in  talking  to  the  young  he  quotes 
the  words  of  his  grandfather,  to  help  and  encourage  ^ 
them :  "  It  is  not  what  you  have  on  you,  but  what  you 
have  in  you  that  makes  a  man." 

But  in  many  ways  life  on  a  farm  did  not  appeal  very 
strongly  to  Billy.     He  was  ill  at  ease  there,  and  often 


£8  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

felt  that  his  career  would  have  to  be  found  in  some  other 
calling.  This  decision  was  brought  to  a  climax  one  day 
by  a  trivial  thing  that  happend  most  unexpectedly. 

The  grandfather  sent  Billy  and  his  half-brother  to  the 
barn  to  carry  a  neck  yoke  to  the  field.  As  they  were  doing 
this,  the  big  ring  at  one  end  of  the  yoke  suddenly  came 
loose,  and  without  any  fault  of  theirs.  The  boys  got 
the  blame,  however,  and  a  severe  tongue  lashing  to 
boot. 

This  fired  the  highstrung  Billy,  and  right  there  and 
then  he  decided  to  leave  the  farm,  and  for  good.  His 
brother,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  begged  him  not  to  go, 
but  his  dander  was  up  and  he  stood  firm. 

If  the  angels  know  anything  about  the  future,  there 
must  have  been  some  joy  in  heaven  over  the  breaking  of 
that  neck  yoke,  for  had  it  held  together  only  a  little 
longer  the  man  who  sways  multitudes  now  might  not 
have  been  a  preacher. 

With  what  little  money  he  had  in  his  jeans,  Billy  next 
morning  hired  a  horse  from  a  neighbor,  and  rode  seven 
miles  to  Nevada  on  the  hunt  for  a  job.  He  found  a  place 
as  utility  boy  in  a  little  fourth-rate  hotel. 

He  had  to  meet  all  the  trains,  and  often  carry  grips 
that  strong  men  were  glad  to  put  down.  He  swept  and 
did  every  other  little  odd  job  about  the  place  that  no 
one  else  was  willing  to  do.  In  the  daytime  he  was  on 
duty  in  the  dingy,  stufify  office,  reeking  with  tobacco 
smoke  and  bad  stories,  and  at  night  he  slept  behind  the 
counter.  He  stuck  to  this  job  eight  months,  and  re- 
ceived as  pay  his  board  and  lodging.  He  was  then 
allowed  to  take  a  day  off  to  go  and  visit  his  grandfather. 
He  stayed  on  the  farm  two  days  instead  c\f  one,  and 
for  doing  so  lost  the  place.  On  his  return  the  landlord 
even  denied  him  entrance  to  the  office,  but  his  wife  be- 


MOTHER   OF   THE    EVANGELIST. 


LEAVES  DAVENPORT  HOME  29 

friended  the  boy.  She  let  him  in  through  the  back  door, 
and  gave  him  a  meal  and  his  lodging  for  the  night. 

The  next  day  Sunday  learned  that  Col.  John  Scott, 
once  lieutenant-governor  of  Iowa,  wanted  to  hire  a  boy. 
He  went  to  the  Scott  home  and  asked  for  the  job. 
Col.  Scott  called  his  wife  in,  and  together  they  looked 
the  boy  over.  Billy  caught  the  Colonel's  fancy  at  once, 
but  Mrs.  Scott  was  not  so  sure,  so  she  said : 

"  You  may  go  and  scrub  the  cellar  stairs  for  me,  son." 

Billy  went  at  the  job  with  a  smile  that  covered  his 
whole  face,  for  if  there  was  anything  he  was  strong  at, 
it  was  the  scrubbing  of  cellar  stairs.  Had  he  been  asked 
to  pick  out  his  own  job  for  a  try-out,  it  would  have  been 
the  very  thing  he  was  told  to  do.  He  had  learned  that 
trade,  and  learned  it  well,  at  the  Orphans'  Home,  for 
he  had  to  do  a  lot  of  it  there. 

He  has  never  done  anything  in  his  life,  from  licking 
a  bully  to  skinning  the  devil,  but  what  he  did  it  thor- 
oughly and  to  a  finish,  and  in  that  same  way  he  cleaned 
those  cellar  stairs.  The  moment  Mrs.  Scott  looked  at 
them  she  gave  the  casting  vote  for  Billy. 

Among  his  other  duties  in  the  Scott  home,  he  took 
care  of  twenty  Shetland  ponies.  In  this  place  he  got 
eight  dollars  a  month  and  his  board  and  lodging. 

During  a  meeting  he  held  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  in 
1913,  Sunday  heard  that  Mrs.  Rex,  a  sister  of  Col.  Scott, 
lived  there.  He  and  Mrs.  Sunday  went  to  visit  her,  and 
had  a  very  pleasant  day.  Sunday  preached  in  Richmond, 
Ohio,  where  Col.  Scott  was  born,  and  the  little  church  was 
packed  to  the  doors,  and  twenty-four  were  converted. 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War  under  Lincoln,  was 
born  at  Steubenville,  and  so  also  were  the  McCooks, 
who  were  renowned  generals  during  the  Civil  War. 
In  his  early  life  Col.  Scott  had  lived  in  that  part  of 


so  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Ohio  and  from  the  large  part  he  had  had  in  Sunday's 
early  career,  the  people  of  Richmond  felt  that  the  evan- 
gelist was  one  of  their  very  own,  and  did  their  best  to 
make  him  feel  at  home. 

There  was  a  good  school  in  the  Home  at  Davenport, 
and  while  there  Sunday  had  passed  the  grades,  and  so 
was  able  to  enter  the  high  school  at  Nevada,  which  he 
did  while  working  for  Col.  Scott.  He  completed  the 
course,  maintaining  all  the  way  through  a  high  average  of 
scholarship.  His  memory's  marvelous  retentive  powers 
were  displayed  early. 

During  the  last  two  years  of  his  high  school  course 
he  had  the  job  of  janitor  of  the  school  building.  This 
compelled  him  to  leave  his  bed  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  during  the  winter,  start  fourteen  fires  and  keep 
them  going  during  the  day.  For  those  fires  he  also  had 
to  carry  the  coal,  do  the  sweeping  and  dusting,  and 
whatever  else  was  needed  in  the  care  of  the  building. 

From  his  early  boyhood  Sunday  was  a  great  runner, 
and  always  racing  with  other  boys.  At  a  Fourth  of  July 
celebration  at  Ames,  when  he  was  thirteen,  he  w^on  the 
first  prize  in  a  footrace  that  was  open  to  all.  The  prize 
he  won  was  three  dollars,  and  no  three  dollars  ever 
looked  any  bigger  to  a  boy.  His  strongest  competitor  in 
the  race  that  day  was  a  young  man  from  the  Agricultural 
College.  The  student  ran  in  racing  togs,  and  Billy  with 
bare  feet. 

During  his  high  school  days  at  Nevada,  his  speed  as 
a  runner  began  to  attract  much  attention,  and  no  won- 
der, for  later  he  was  to  be  one  of  the  first  men  in  the 
country  to  do  a  hundred  yards  in  ten  seconds. 

When  his  high  school  course  w^as  finished  he  was 
persuaded  to  go  to  Marshalltown,  so  that  he  might  be 
a  member  of  the  Marshalltown  Fire  Brigade.    Firemen's 


LEAVES  DAVENPORT  HOME  31 

tournaments  were  then  very  popular  all  over  the  state, 
and  largely  attended  wherever  held.  Sunday  had  had 
a  part  in  some  of  these,  and  was  beginning  to  be  known 
as  a  young  man  of  remarkable  speed,  and  as  fleetness 
of  foot  was  the  thing  that  was  at  a  premium  in  the  win- 
ning teams,  the  Marshalltown  Fire  Brigade  was  deter- 
mined to  have  him. 

His  first  job  in  Marshalltown  was  in  an  undertaking 
and  furniture  shop.  He  liked  it  no  better  than  he  had 
done  farming,  and  especially  detested  varnishing  chairs, 
and  it  was  what  he  had  to  do  the  most.  One  day  his 
employer,  who  stood  watching  him,  said : 

''  That's  not  the  way  to  do  it ;  let  me  show  you."  Then 
after  a  few  strokes  of  the  brush,  he  said : 

"  Can't  you  do  it  that  way?  '' 

''  Not  on  your  life,"  said  Billy,  "  or  I  wouldn't  be 
working  for  you  for  three  dollars  a  week." 

V^^'hile  in  Marshalltown,  Sunday  became  interested  in 
baseball,  and  played  with  the  city  team.  This  marks 
one  of  the  significant  points  in  his  career.  He  played  a 
spectacular  game  from  the  start,  and  his  base  running 
was  astonishing.  It  was  in  the  early  eighties  that  Anson 
discovered  Sunday  at  Marshalltown,  and  it  came  about 
in  this  way:  Some  time  before  Billy's  playing  in 
Marshalltown  the  Club  had  won  for  it  the  State  Cham- 
pionship of  Local  Clubs.  The  game  was  with  Des 
Moines,  and  was  played  in  the  Fair  Grounds  at  Des 
Moines. 

They  told  Anson  so  much  about  this  game,  and  Sun- 
day's fine  playing  in  it,  that  the  Captain  sat  up  and  took 
notice  that  Billy  must  be  something  out  of  the  ordinary 
as  a  player,  and  right  there  the  young  man's  long  lane 
of  hard  luck  took  a  short  turn  for  the  better. 

Anson  had  been  born  and  reared  in  Marshalltown, 


32  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

and  at  that  time  was  spending  some  time  there,  visiting 
his  father.  He  had  an  aimt,  known  to  many  familiarly 
as  "  Aunt  Em/'  and  it  was  she  who  drew  the  Captain's 
attention  to  Sunday.  And  but  for  the  interest  this  good 
woman  took  in  him,  Billy  might  have  remained  in  that 
furniture  shop  varnishing  chairs  for  years,  with  a  loath- 
ing like  that  Israel  came  to  have  for  quail.  Or  if  Anson 
had  not  made  that  most  timely  visit  to  the  home  of  his 
boyhood,  the  man  who  is  now  preaching  to  such  vast 
multitudes  might  have  evoluted  into  a  solemn-faced  un- 
dertaker, who  could  be  happy  only  when  putting  crape 
on  the  door. 

Anson  had  a  meeting  with  Sunday,  and  was  not  long 
in  convincing  him  that  his  forte  lay,  not  in  driving  a 
hearse  or  selling  crape  at  two  dollars  a  yard,  but  in 
giving  his  legs  a  chance  to  do  their  best  on  the  diamond, 
and  so  once  more  Billy  packed  his  grip  and  boarded  the 
cars  to  go  to  Chicago,  where  he  landed  with  only  a 
dollar  in  his  pocket,  but  with  hope  beating  high  in  his 
breast.  Arrived  there,  he  was  soon  wearing  the  uniform 
of  the  famous  old  White  Stockings,  of  the  National 
League,  the  club  that  won  the  championship  for  the 
windy  city  every  year  but  two  in  the  period  of  1883-7. 

On  the  Chicago  team  at  that  time  were  Flint  and 
Kelly,  catchers ;  Clarkson  and  McCormick,  pitchers ; 
Anson,  Pfeffer,  Burns  and  Williamson,  the  ''  stonewall " 
infield,  with  Dalrymple,  Gore  and  Sunday  in  the  out- 
field. 

This  was  brisk  company,  but  Billy  was  soon  admittedly 
the  fastest  runner,  not  only  in  the  Chicago  team,  but  in 
the  profession.  He  was  the  first  man  who  ever  ran  the 
bases  in  fourteen  seconds.  Anson  has  always  contended 
that  he  was  the  fastest  baserunner  who  ever  played  the 
game.    It  is  remarkable  that  he  went  straight  from  the 


STATE  OF  IOWA 


ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE 


3t  3(b  (Eprtififd,   That  the  Records  of  this  office  show  that— 


-^/kd^t^C.J^^'e.::?:^^^  .  Age  g^<^. Nativity ./^^^-^^-^^^-^--ta^:--  , 


residence 


G"?...- ,   {Oi^XxAXi./W^<^'(^A^^  t^^^ Regiment  Iowa 

on  the ^"^^     Hay  of C^-^-^ 


Vol 


and  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  as  a 


,  Iowa,  was  enlisted  in  Company 
It  Iowa 


for  the  period  of.     C^- .—years,  on...^  ^- day  of....^^-'^-r^.^.<<trri?rC^....l86«?  . 

ti\f^.i^yH^(n.-T<i^i^....'^trt^^^.^  hy^^r_^^f^^^y^<<<C^..  U.  S.  a.  Mustering 
Officer,  and  that  the  said ^^'^SS''^':^^^  (2yf^^:''*i'^<^Ci^<<y^_ 


IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  witness  my  hand  and  seal,  at 
Des  Moines,  this-   /<^...  day  of ^X^^-r^  /  ...190^  . 


HO  rets  **i  CMtxaco  ro*  tnkc  ccDTirioTt* 


CERTIFIED    COPY    OF    RECORD    IN    ADJUTANT-GENERAL's    OF- 
FICE,    STATE    OF    IOWA,     SHOWING    ENLISTMENT    AND 
DEATH    OF    MR.    SUNDAY'S    FATHER. 


LEAVES  DAVENPORT  HOME  33 

prairie  into  the  Major  League,  without  any  probation  in 
a  Minor  League. 

The  same  forcefulness  and  remarkable  energy  which 
now  mark  Sunday's  evangelistic  efforts  were  just  as 
prominent  in  his  career  on  the  diamond.  He  was  always 
conscientious,  painstaking  and  suggestive,  and  a  brilliant 
outfielder,  but  it  was  his  wonderful  speed  in  running 
bases  for  which  he  was  most  remarkable. 

Anson's  confidence  in  Sunday  was  shown  by  the  fact 
that  he  turned  over  to  him  the  responsibility  connected 
with  much  of  the  business  management  of  the  Chicago 
Club,  this  more  particularly  when  on  the  road.  Sunday 
collected  the  percentages,  figured  out  the  railroad  routes, 
and  made  hotel  arrangements.  He  often  carried  thou- 
sands of  dollars  around  with  him  in  a  satchel. 

Speaking  of  Sunday,  in  his  baseball  book,  Anson  says : 

"  The  first  thirteen  times  that  Sunday  went  to  the 
bat  after  he  began  playing  with  the  Chicagos,  he  struck 
out,  but  I  was  convinced  that  he  would  yet  make  a  ball 
player,  and  hung  on  to  him,  cheering  him  up  as  best 
I  could  whenever  he  became  discouraged.  As  a  base 
runner  his  judgment  was  at  times  faulty,  and  he  was 
altogether  too  daring,  taking  extraordinary  chances  be- 
cause of  the  tremendous  turn  of  speed  he  possessed. 
He  was  a  good  fielder,  and  a  strong  and  accurate  thrower, 
his  weak  point  lying  in  his  batting. 

"  The  ball  that  he  threw  was  a  hard  one  to  catch, 
however,  it  landing  in  the  hands  like  a  chunk  of  lead. 
As  a  thrower,  he  was  not  swift  as  Clarkson,  Pfefifer  or 
Burns,  all  of  whom  sent  the  ball  across  the  field  with 
the  speed  of  a  bullet,  and  with  the  accuracy  of  first-class 
marksmen.  In  spite  of  the  extreme  speed  with  which 
they  came  into  the  hands,  however,  they  seemed  to  sort 
o'  lift  themselves  as  they  came,  and  so  landed  lightly, 


34  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

while  the  ball  thrown  by  Sunday,  to  the  contrary,  seemed 
to  gain  in  weight  as  it  sailed  through  the  air,  and  was 
heavy  and  soggy  when  it  struck  the  hands.  This  is 
strange,  but  a  fact,  and  one  which  perhaps  some  scientist 
can  explain. 

"  Sunday  was,  in  my  opinion,  the  strongest  man  in 
the  profession  on  his  feet,  and  could  run  the  bases  like  a 
frightened  deer.  His  greatest  lack  as  a  ball  player  was 
his  inability  to  bat  as  well  as  some  of  the  hard-hitting 
outfielders.  He  was  a  fast  and  brilliant  fielder,  a  fine 
thrower,  and  once  on  first  he  could  steal  more  bases  than 
any  of  his  team  mates." 


Ill 

THE  BASEBALL  PLAYER'S  CONVERSION 

THE  remarkable  vitality  and  buoyant  energy  which 
mark  Sunday's  preaching  are  the  same  as  charac- 
terized his  work  on  the  diamond  and  other  activi- 
ties years  ago.  His  elasticity  and  recuperative  power  have 
always  amazed  and  puzzled  his  friends.  He  seems  to  have  ( 
a  quality  of  endurance  that  makes  him  well-nigh  super- 
human. A  rallying  force  that  never  fails  him,  and  makes 
him  equal  to  the  terrific  strain  of  one  hard  campaign 
after  another,  with  scarcely  any  rest  between  them.  This 
must  be  due  in  great  measure  to  the  blood  of  iron  and 
constitution  of  steel  he  inherited  from  his  m.other. 

The  early  days  of  her  young  motherhood  were  spent 
in  the  turmoil  and  struggle  of  pioneer  life.  She  was  not 
enfeebled  by  the  poison  of  bad  air,  so  common  to  modern 
life,  for  no  better  ventilated  dwelling  was  ever  known 
than  the  log  cabin  of  the  early  settler.  Then,  too,  she 
had  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  spend  much  time  in 
God's  great  out-of-doors,  drinking  in  health  and  strength 
from  the  life-giving  sunshine. 

This,  with  plain  and  wholesome  food  and  pure  water, 
equipped  her  well  to  transmit  a  good  physical  heritage 
to  her  children.  When  God  wants  to  raise  up  a  man 
with  power  to  shake  the  world,  he  sees  to  it  that  he 
shall  have  the  right  kind  of  a  mother,  and  this  w^as 
especially  true  of  Billy  Sunday. 

The  daily  routine  of  Sunday's  life  has  always  been 

35 


S6  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

such  as  would  develop  his  muscle,  but  not  exhaust  it. 
'Another  great  thing  in  his  favor  is  that  he  has  not  been 
handicapped  with  bad  habits.  His  manhood  has  never 
been  sapped  by  dissipation.  He  has  never  been  lax  in 
his  morals  or  life,  but  has  always  held  the  rein  of  self- 
control  upon  himself.  He  never  used  tobacco  in  any 
form.  Had  he  been  a  cigarette  fiend  he  would  have  been 
down  and  out  long  ago.  He  never  had  any  appetite  for 
liquor.  During  his  early  baseball  days,  when  out  with 
his  team  mates,  he  may  have  taken  a  glass  of  wine  or 
beer  sometimes,  but  it  was  his  habit  to  use  only  soft 
drinks. 

In  his  eating  he  is  also  just  as  temperate.  He  favors 
the  most  simply  prepared  foods,  and  seldom  drinks  any- 
thing but  weak  tea  and  coffee.  He  is  a  light  eater,  but 
generally  when  in  a  meeting  eats  four  meals  a  day,  the 
last  being  a  small  lunch  about  an  hour  after  the  close 
of  the  evening  service.  He  also  gets  along  with  sur- 
prisingly little  sleep,  and  claims  that  he  can  hold  his 
own  with  Edison  on  that  line. 

This  is  one  of  the  things  that  endeared  Sunday  to  the 
baseball  public :  He  bubbled  over  and  sparkled  with  sheer 
vitality.  Anson  often  said  he  might  as  well  try  to  hold 
a  frightened  deer  as  undertake  to  restrain  Sunday  when 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  one  base  and  fly  to  the 
next. 

His  fleetness  of  foot  attracted  attention  elsewhere  than 
on  the  diamond.  For  Anson  was  in  the  habit  of  backing 
him  against  all  comers.  In  one  of  his  sermons  Sunday 
tells  the  following  story  : 

"  Before  I  was  converted  Anson  had  backed  me  for  a 
hundred-yard  race  with  '  Arlie  *  Latham  of  the  St.  Louis 
*  Browns,'  for  five  hundred  dollars  a  side  and  the  gate 
money,   to   be    run   at   St.    Louis   one    Sunday  at   the 


SUNDAY  IS  CONVERTED  37 

end  of  the  season,  and  this  bothered  me  a  lot,  I  tell 
you. 

"  I  prayed  over  it  night  after  night,  but  I  couldn't 
see  my  way  clear.  I  didn't  want  to  do  it,  but  how  was  I 
to  get  out  of  it  ?  Finally  I  went  to  ^  Pop '  Anson  and 
told  him  he  would  have  to  let  me  out. 

*'  *  Why,  Billy,'  he  said,  *  you're  not  going  to  be  yellow, 
and  a  quitter,  are  you  ?  ' 

^'  I  explained  to  him,  but  he  wouldn't  listen. 

'' '  No,  Billy,'  he  said,  '  I've  backed  you  for  a  thousand 
dollars  in  this  race,  and  so  have  a  lot  of  my  friends. 
There's  about  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  up  on  it. 
I'm  not  much  on  religion,  but  I  don't  believe  that  God 
wants  you  to  start  out  with  him  by  throwing  down  your 
friends,  on  a  contract  that  you  took  before  you  went 
with  him.  Now  I  tell  you  what  you  do.  You  go  down 
to  St.  Louis  and  run  that  race,  and  then  you  can  fix  it 
up  with  God  afterward.' 

**And,  well — friends,  I  did.  I  ran  the  race  and  won 
it,  and  then  I  came  right  back  to  Chicago,  and  went 
before  the  session  of  the  church  and  owned  up,  and  when 
they  heard  all  about  it  they  let  me  off,  and  I  was  an 
elder  of  that  church  for  a  good  many  years  afterward. 
I  have  been  sorry  a  thousand  times  since  that  I  did  this, 
but  with  my  inexperience  at  that  time,  I  could  see  no 
other  way  out  of  it." 

One  Sunday  afternoon  Billy  was  strolling  about  in 
the  south  end  of  the  business  district  of  Chicago,  with 
half  a  dozen  baseball  friends.  The  New  York  Giants 
were  in  the  city  at  the  time,  and  several  of  them  were 
in  the  party. 

At  the  corner  of  State  and  Van  Buren  streets  was  an 
empty  lot,  which  is  now  occupied  by  the  Siegel  &  Cooper 
Department  Store.    Here  a  company  of  men  and  women 


88  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

'  workers  from  the  Pacific  Garden  Mission  were  holding 
an  outdoor  meeting. 

Sunday  and  his  friends  stopped  to  listen.  The  meeting 
soon  took  hold  of  their  attention,  and  they  sat  down  on 
the  curb  and  heard  the  service  through.  Sunday  con- 
fesses that  the  singing  of  the  old  gospel  songs — the  same 
his  mother  had  sung  in  the  little  log  cabin  home  back 
in  Iowa — caught  at  his  heart  strings  and  set  them  vibrat- 
ing in  sympathy  with  memories  of  childhood  days.  A 
new  spirit  welled  up  within  him,  and  created  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  life  he  was  living. 

When  the  outdoor  meeting  was  over,  a  young  man 
named  Harry  Monroe,  now  superintendent  of  the  Mis- 
sion, seeing  that  Sunday  had  been  touched,  went  to  him 
and  invited  him  to  attend  the  meeting  at  the  Mission, 
two  blocks  away. 

"  You'll  enjoy  it,"  he  said.  "  You'll  hear  some  things 
that  will  interest  you.    Won't  you  come  ?  " 

Sunday  accepted  the  invitation  and  went.  The  usual 
services  were  held  in  the  Mission.  There  was  singing 
and  praying,  and  earnest  and  heartfelt  testimonies  from 
those  who  had  found  deliverance  from  many  kinds  of 
sin.  Then  some  one  gave  a  short  gospel  talk,  that,  though 
brief,  was  right  to  the  point.  The  usual  invitation  to 
accept  Christ  was  given,  for  no  meeting  has  ever  been 
held  in  that  Mission  without  this  being  done,  and  there 
has  never  been  a  service  when  some  one  did  not  re- 
spond. 

Sunday  listened  eagerly  and  closely  to  everything  that 
was  said,  and  though  his  heart  was  deeply  stirred,  he 
did  not  respond  to  the  invitation,  or  in  any  way  further 
commit  himself ;  though  when  he  left  the  Mission  it  was 
with  the  resolve  that  he  would  return  again. 

Several  nights  later  he  was  once  more  in  the  Mission, 


SUNDAY  IS  CONVERTED  39 

and  went  again  some  four  or  five  nights  in  succession. 
Then  one  night  when  he  needed  help  as  badly  as  did 
the  man  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  a  voice  that  was  like 
a  breath  from  heaven  aroused  him,  and  he  looked  up 
into  the  face  of  Mrs.  Clark,  wife  of  the  saintly  Col. 
Clark,  founder  of  the  Mission.  She  well  understood  his 
case,  for  she  had  helped  hundreds  like  him  into  the 
kingdom. 

She  talked  to  him  like  a  mother,  and  with  a  wisdom 
given  to  her  from  above  led  him  to  where  he  could  see 
the  light  streaming  from  the  cross.  Little  by  little  she 
brought  him  to  see  clearly  that  eternal  life  is  God's 
free  gift,  and  being  such,  it  must  be  received  as  a  gift, 
through  childlike  faith  in  the  finished  work  of  Christ. 
And  then,  when  the  good  woman  had  given  him  a  few 
promises,  upon  which  she  assured  him  it  would  be  safe 
to  plant  his  feet,  he  made  the  great  decision  that  every 
one  must  make  for  himself,  and  took  Jesus  Christ  as  his 
all-sufficient  Saviour,  promised  compliance  with  all  that 
God's  law  required  of  him,  and  then  soon — very  soon — 
his  burden  was  gone.  He  knew  that  his  name  had  been 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life,  and  the  peace  that  passeth 
understanding  came  into  his  heart. 

The  founder  of  the  Pacific  Garden  Mission,  in  which 
Sunday  was  converted,  was  Col.  Clark,  who,  when  he 
was  converted,  was  a  Board  of  Trade  man  in  Chicago, 
doing  a  very  large  and  profitable  business.  This  he  gave 
up  almost  at  once,  and  consecrated  himself  and  all  that 
he  had  to  the  work  of  God.  As  soon  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
took  possession  of  his  heart  he  became  a  most  compas- 
sionate man,  and  could  not  look  upon  the  unfortunate 
and  sinful  without  being  moved  to  tears.  He  was  often 
seen  by  some  passing  friend,  back  in  an  alley,  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  from  the  sidewalk,  talking  and  praying  with 


40  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

a  man  who  had  been  torn  by  the  cloven  hoof,  the  tears 
on  both  their  faces. 

Soon  Col.  Clark  began  to  cry  to  God  almost  constantly, 
to  help  him  do  something  for  the  down-and-out  people 
with  whom  he  soon  began  to  be  brought  much  in  contact. 
This  resulted,  not  long  after  his  conversion,  in  his  start- 
ing the  Pacific  Garden  Mission,  which  has  from  that  day 
to  this  been  a  life-saving  station  for  those  whose  lives 
have  been  wrecked  by  misfortune  and  sin. 

A  meeting  has  been  held  in  this  Mission  every  night 
for  about  forty  years,  and  not  one  has  ever  been  held 
in  which  some  poor  soul  did  not  confess  Christ  and  make 
a  new  start.  Col.  Clark  put  in  six  nights  out  of  every 
week  at  the  Mission  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  often  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  he  might  be  found  there  doing  his 
duty  when  the  Lord  comes  again.  He  could  not  preach 
at  all,  and  was  not  much  of  a  talker,  but  only  the  m.ost 
hardened  sinner  could  hear  him  pray  and  remain 
unmoved. 

But  think  of  the  great  harvest  of  good  that  came  out 
of  the  life  this  gentle  and  unassuming  man  invested 
for  God.  It  was  in  the  Mission  he  founded  and  for 
many  years  supported,  that  Harry  Monroe,  its  present 
able  superintendent,  was  converted ;  here  Melvin  Trotter, 
Charlie  Morton  and  others  who  have  distinguished  them- 
selves as  Mission  workers,  were  converted,  and  it  was 
here  that  Billy  Sunday,  one  of  the  greatest  evangelists 
since  Pentecost,  was  converted,  and  yet  while  he  lived  it 
was  given  to  Col.  Clark  to  know  very  little  about  the 
real  magnitude  of  his  work.  What  encouragement  this 
should  be  to  each  one  of  us,  to  be  '*  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  we  know  that  our 
labor  is  not  in  vain." 

Every  morning  the  White  Stocking  boys  went  to  the 


SUNDAY  IS  CONVERTED  41 

Ball  Park  for  practice.  After  his  conversion  Sunday- 
went  to  the  Park  expecting  to  be  greeted  with  ridicule, 
because  of  the  stand  he  had  taken  for  Christ.  In  one 
of  his  sermons  he  thus  tells  what  happened : 

**  I  shall  never  forget  it !  I  slipped  my  key  into  the 
wicket,,  and  the  first  to  meet  me  after  I  got  inside  was 
Mike  Kelly.  He  came  up,  and  in  a  most  cordial  and 
brotherly  manner  said : 

*'  *  Bill,  Fm  proud  of  you.  Religion  ain't  my  long  suit, 
but  I'll  help  you  all  I  can.' 

"  Up  came  Anson,  the  best  ball  player  ever  in  the 
game;  and  after  him  Pfeffer,  Clarkson,  Flint,  Jimmy 
McCormick,  Burns,  Williamson  and  Dalrymple.  There 
wasn't  a  fellow  in  that  team  who  knocked;  but  every 
one  had  a  word  of  encouragement  for  me. 

**  Not  long  afterward  we  played  the  old  Detroit  team. 
We  were  neck  and  neck  for  the  championship,  and  four 
games  were  going  to  settle  it.  That  club  had  Thompson, 
Richardson,  Rowe,  Dunlap,  Hanlon  and  Bennett,  and 
they  could  play  ball ! 

**  I  was  playing  right  field.  Mike  Kelly  was  catching 
and  John  G.  Clarkson  was  pitching.  He  was  as  fine  a 
pitcher  as  ever  crawled  into  a  uniform.  I  think  he 
could  put  more  turns  and  twists  into  a  ball  than  any 
pitcher  I  ever  saw.  There  are  some  fine  pitchers  to-day 
— Bender,  AVood,  Matthewson,  Johnson,  Marquard  and 
others,  but  I  don't  believe  any  of  them  stands  in  the  class 
with  Clarkson. 

"  They  had  two  men  out,  and  they  had  a  man  on  second 
and  another  on  third,  with  Bennett,  their  old  catcher,  at 
the  bat.  Charley  had  three  balls  and  two  strikes  on 
him.  He  couldn't  hit  a  high  ball,  but  he  could  kill  them 
when  they  went  about  his  knee.  I  called  to  Clarkson, 
and  said: 


42  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

"  '  One  more,  John,  and  we've  got  'em ! ' 

"  Yon  know  every  pitcher  digs  a  hole  in  the  ground 
where  he  puts  his  foot  when  he  is  pitching.  John  stuck 
his  foot  into  the  hole,  and  he  went  clear  back  to  the 
ground.  O  how  he  could  make  tliem  dance !  He  could 
throw  overhanded  and  the  ball  would  go  down  and  up. 
He  is  the  only  man  I  ever  saw  do  it.  He  could  send  a 
ball  so  swift  that  the  batter  would  feel  the  thermometer 
drop  as  it  whizzed  by. 

"  John  went  clear  down,  and  just  as  he  let  the  ball  go 
his  right  foot  slipped,  and  the  ball  went  low  instead  of 
high. 

"  I  saw  Charley  swing  hard,  and  heard  the  bat  crack 
as  he  met  the  ball  square  on  the  nose.  As  I  saw  the  ball 
rise  in  the  air  I  knew  it  was  going  clear  over  my  head, 
into  the  crowd  that  overflowed  into  the  field.  I  could 
judge  within  ten  feet  of  where  a  ball  would  light,  so  I 
turned  my  back  to  the  ball  and  ran,  and  as  I  ran  I 
yelled — 

"  '  Get  out  of  the  way ! ' 

*'  And  that  crowd  opened  like  the  Red  Sea  for  the 
rod  of  Moses.  I  ran  on  and  as  I  flew  over  the  dirt  I 
made  a  prayer.  It  wasn't  theological  either,  I  tell  you 
that.  As  near  as  I  can  remember,  it  was  something  like 
this : 

"  '  O  Lord,  if  you  ever  helped  mortal  man,  help  me 
to  get  that  ball !  * 

*'  I  ran  and  jumped  over  the  bench  when  I  thought  I 
was  under  it,  and  stopped.  I  looked  back  and  saw  it 
going  over  my  head,  and  I  jumped  and  shoved  my  left 
hand  out,  and  the  ball  hit  it  and  stuck!  At  the  rate  I 
was  going  the  momentum  carried  me  on,  and  I  fell  under 
the  feet  of  a  team  of  horses.  But  I  held  to  it  and  jumped 
up  with  the  ball  in  my  hand.    My !  how  they  yelled !    Tom 


SUNDAY  IS  CONVERTED  43 

Johnson,  who  used  to  be  mayor  of  Cleveland — dead  now 
— rushed  up  to  me  and  poked  a  ten-dollar  bill  in  my    \ 
hand.  / 

"  '  Here,  Bill ! '  he  cried  to  me.    '  Greatest  thing  I  ever    ' 
saw  !    Buy  yourself  the  best  hat  in  Chicago  on  me ! '  " 

When  A.  G.  Spalding  got  together  the  two  famous 
baseball  nines  which  made  a  trip  around  the  world,  play-  ' 
ing  exhibition  games  in  the  big  cities  of  a  dozen  coun- 
tries, Sunday  was  the  second  man  asked  to  join,  and 
Anson  was  the  first.  Just  before  they  got  started  on  the 
trip,  Sunday  got  hurt.  He  always  slid  head  first  for  a 
base,  and  in  doing  so  cut  a  ligament  loose  in  his  knee. 
He  consulted  a  Washington,  D.  C,  physician,  and  the 
latter  promised  him  a  good  sound  leg  if  he  would  not 
make  the  trip  around  the  world. 

It  was  a  tremendous  disappointment  to  the  young 
player,  but  he  took  the  doctor's  advice,  and  stayed  at 
home.  Spalding  offered  to  wait  for  him  in  either  Hono- 
lulu or  Australia,  and  later  sought  to  persuade  him  to 
go  over  to  England  and  play  there  and  in  Scotland  and 
Wales,  but  Sunday  did  not  go. 

Billy  has  always  been  grateful  to  the  physician,  who 
was  Dr.  McGruder,  Garfield's  family  doctor,  for  his  firm 
stand  against  the  world  tour.  The  restoration  was  per- 
fect, and  the  knee  to-day  is  as  good  as  it  ever  was. 


IV 
AN  ACTIVE  MEMBER  OF  A  LIVE  CHURCH 

SOON  after  Mr.  Sunday's  conversion  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Jefferson  Park  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  Chicago,  located  on  the  West  Side,  and  was 
soon  known  as  an  energetic  young  man  who  was  very 
much  in  earnest  in  his  religious  life. 

That  he  should  have  become  a  most  earnest  Christian 
worker  soon  after  his  conversion  is  not  surprising,  for 
with  his  nature  he  could  not  long  remain  inactive  in 
anything  in  which  he  took  an  interest.  He  must  be  up 
and  doing  in  a  way  that  will  bring  something  to  pass 
wherever  he  is.  Even  to  this  day  when  he  goes  home 
to  rest,  he  gets  into  a  suit  of  old  clothes  almost  as  soon 
as  he  takes  off  his  hat,  and  out  he  goes  to  sprinkle  the 
lawn,  trim  the  shrubbery,  dig  in  the  ground  or  push 
the  lawnmower.  If  he  had  to  sit  down  and  remain 
inactive  for  a  day  he  would  almost  die  of  fatigue. 

When  Sunday  came  into  the  kingdom  he  had  great 
love  for  the  things  of  God,  and  especially  so  for  the 
house  of  God  and  the  people  of  God.  The  new  nature, 
implanted  when  he  was  born  from  above,  made  the 
pleasures  of  the  old  life  distasteful.  Newer  and  more 
wholesome  attractions  supplanted  them,  and  drew  him 
away  from  the  old  entanglements. 

From  the  very  start  he  loved  the  Bible,  and  found  in 
it  a  rich  mine  of  golden  treasure,  in  the  seeking  of  which 
he  spent  many  hours  in  fascinating  interest.    Then  what 

44 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  45 

more  natural  than  that  he  should  often  be  drawn  to  the 
place  where  the  Book  was  honored,  loved,  obeyed  and 
expounded?  His  first  Bible  was  one  he  bought  at  a 
second-hand  bookstore  in  St.  Louis  for  thirty-five  cents, 
and  some  of  the  most  wonderful  hours  of  his  life  were 
spent  in  poring  over  its  pages. 

When  he  became  a  Christian  the  highest  mark  of  dis- 
cipleship  was  not  wanting  in  him,  for  he  loved  the 
brethren,  and  it  became  as  natural  for  him  to  go  to 
church  as  it  is  for  birds  to  sing  or  flowers  to  bloom. 
Having  fellowship  with  the  people  who  knew  the  Lord, 
and  never  tired  of  telling  of  his  goodness,  gave  him 
strength  and  courage,  and  joy  of  a  higher  order  than 
he  had  ever  before  known. 

He  became  a  regular  attendant  upon  all  the  church 
services  whenever  he  was  in  the  city,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  he  began  to  take  some  part  in  them.  He 
loved  to  pray,  and  has  never  gotten  over  this  life-giving 
habit.  Prayer  was  to  him  the  natural  expression  of  the 
worship  that  welled  up  in  his  soul,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  he  was  soon  praying  in  public.  He  prayed 
because  his  heart  was  full  of  praise  that  could  not  be 
suppressed.  It  had  to  find  vent  in  glad  expression,  just 
as  all  nature  must  burst  into  bud  when  spring  comes. 
And  so,  whenever  there  was  an  opportunity  to  pray  in 
the  devotional  meetings,  others  might  hold  back,  but 
the  young  convert  could  not;  and  when  he  prayed  all 
who  heard  knew  that  it  was  real  prayer  that  he  offered. 
He  not  only  thanked  God  for  what  had  been  given,  but 
put  out  his  hands  for  more,  in  a  way  that  left  no  doubt 
that  he  expected  them  to  be  filled. 

There  was  this  beautiful  thing  too  about  his  prayers ; 
they  were  natural.  There  was  nothing  strained  or 
worked  up  in  them.     They  poured  out  with  no  more 


46  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

evidence  of  artificiality  than  water  bubbling  out  of  a 
spring.  They  were  not  modeled  after  the  conventional 
pattern,  and  never  have  been,  any  more  than  the  prattle 
of  a  child  conforms  to  the  rules  of  rhetoric. 

Sunday  could  not  be  put  in  a  more  uncomfortable 
strait- jacket  than  to  have  to  pray  in  a  dignified  and 
perfectly  proper  manner.  Whatever  he  does  he  must 
do  in  his  own  natural  way,  and  that  explains  why  he  is 
Billy  Sunday.  He  is  natural.  He  does  his  best  in  a 
way  that  is  as  much  according  to  his  nature  as  the  color 
of  his  eyes;  and  this  practice,  this  scorn  of  pretense,  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  he  is  to-day  a  mighty  man  for 
God.  He  is  as  certain  that  God  hears  him  when  he 
prays  as  he  is  that  he  lives.  Without  prayer  he  believes 
that  he  would  be  as  quickly  shorn  of  his  strength  as 
Samson  was.  He  therefore  takes  no  step  and  makes 
no  decision  without  first  laying  the  matter  before  the 
Lord.  His  prayers  are  not  long,  but  he  puts  them  close 
together,  and  so  keeps  close  to  God  in  his  every-day  life, 
for  it  is  his  habit  to  pray  about  the  little  things  as  well 
as  the  great  ones.  His  praying,  like  everything  else  he 
does,  is  quite  unconventional. 

When  Sunday  prays  he  talks  to  the  Lord,  as  to  his 
most  intimate  friend,  and  seldom  uses  the  words  "  thee  " 
and  "  thou."  More  frequently  he  begins  by  saying,  "  And 
now,  Jesus,"  and  then  comes  at  once  to  the  matter  of 
the  moment,  without  preamble  or  circumlocution.  In 
this  way  he  not  only  prays  for  guidance  as  to  the  sermon 
he  shall  preach,  and  that  it  may  be  delivered  with  power, 
and  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  success  of  the  meet- 
ing, but  prays  for  good  order  and  good  weather  as 
well. 

In  every  place  where  he  holds  a  meeting  he  chooses 
some  secluded  spot,  where  he  can  spend  a  few  minutes  in 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  47 

prayer  before  he  enters  the  tabernacle,  and  this  spot 
becomes  a  bethel  to  him. 

He  also  believes  that  power  will  come,  and  all  difficul- 
ties, however  great,  will  be  swept  away  when  a  great 
stream  of  united  prayer  is  kept  going  up  to  heaven,  and 
so  in  every  neighborhood  of  six  or  eight  blocks,  cottage 
prayer  meetings  are  held  every  day,  at  the  same  hour, 
and  changed  from  home  to  home  each  morning. 

But  to  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  his  church  life. 
In  that  early  day  he  was  as  ready  to  testify  to  what  had 
been  done  for  him  and  in  him  as  was  the  blind  man 
in  the  ninth  chapter  of  John.  The  moment  the  meeting 
was  open  for  testimony  the  young  convert  was  on  his 
feet,  and  the  spiritual  temperature  was  always  some- 
what higher  when  he  closed  than  when  he  began,  for 
he  always  had  something  to  say  that  was  fresh  and  crisp, 
and  worth  the  telling.  This  was  largely  because  he  had 
become  such  a  diligent  reader  of  the  Bible.  And  when- 
ever he  spoke  it  was  with  an  enthusiasm  that  was  con- 
tagious, and  this  had  a  retroactive  effect  upon  his  own 
heart  that  greatly  helped  his  spiritual  development  and 
growth. 

And  how  richly  God  rewarded  the  young  convert  for 
his  unwavering  and  determined  stand  from  the  very  be- 
ginning of  his  religious  life.  The  promises  of  the  first 
psalm  were  fulfilled  to  him  and  in  him,  for  like  a  tree 
planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  everything  he  said  and 
did  was  made  to  prosper  in  a  rich  fruitage  of  Christian 
character.  In  the  prayer  meetings  he  met  those  of  kin- 
dred spirit,  and  with  them  had  a  fellowship  like  to  that 
above.  In  his  church  life  he  shirked  no  duty  that  was 
laid  upon  him,  and  for  a  time  was  a  faithful  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sabbath  school. 

He  joined  the  Central  Y.   M.  C.  A.  Bible  Training 


48  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Class,  and  learned  to  study  the  Scriptures  systematically. 
This  was  of  lasting  benefit  to  him,  and  no  doubt  has 
had  much  to  do  with  causing  him  to  make  systematic 
Bible  study  a  prominent  feature  of  his  great  meetings. 

Being  in  attendance  upon  the  services  in  a  church 
in  Allegheny,  Pa.,  one  Sunday,  he  was  asked  to  serve 
as  teacher  to  a  class  of  young  men,  in  the  Sunday  school, 
and  with  his  usual  promptness  cheerfully  responded. 
The  young  fellows  in  the  class  were  much  pleased  with 
this  arrangement,  and  began  at  once  to  ply  him  with  all 
sorts  of  baseball  questions.  Sunday  at  once  stopped 
and  said : 

"  Fellows,  if  you'll  come  around  to  the  hotel  where  I 
am  stopping,  to-morrow,  I  will  be  glad  to  tell  you  all 
I  can  about  baseball,  but  I  can't  do  it  to-day.  This 
is  God's  day,  and  I  am  here  to  do  his  work  the  best  I 
know  how,  and  so  let  us  see  what  we  can  get  out  of 
this  lesson." 

There  was  no  further  interruption,  and  every  young 
man  in  the  class  listened  attentively  to  all  that  was  said. 
Some  time  ago  a  gray-haired  usher  in  one  of  Sunday's 
great  meetings  recalled  the  scene  to  his  recollection,  and 
told  how  deeply  he  had  been  impressed  by  the  tactful 
way  in  which  the  young  teacher  had  handled  the  matter. 

Sunday  continued  to  play  ball  as  a  professional  for 
about  five  years  after  his  conversion,  but  while  doing 
so  was  unconsciously  making  a  splendid  preparation  for 
preaching,  by  giving  religious  talks  as  he  had  oppor- 
tunity in  cities  to  which  he  traveled  with  his  club.  In 
those  days  he  had  not  the  slightest  thought  of  ever  be- 
coming a  preacher.  The  first  doors  that  opened  to  him 
were  those  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  but 
it  was  not  long  before  churches  also  began  to  give  him 
urgent  calls  to  speak  in  their  pulpits. 


SQUIRE   MARTIN    COREY,    MR.    SUNDAY  S   GRANDFATHER. 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  49 

A  Chicago  paper  has  this  to  say  about  his  first  ap-  \ 
pearance  as  a  speaker  at  a  rehgious  meeting  in  that 
city: 

"  Center  fielder  Billy  Sunday  made  a  three-base  hit 
at  Farwell  Hall  last  night.  There  is  no  other  way  to 
express  the  success  of  his  first  appearance  as  an  evan- 
gelist in  Chicago.  His  audience  was  made  up  of  about 
five  hundred  men,  who  didn't  know  much  about  his 
talents  as  a  preacher,  but  could  remember  his  galloping 
to  second  base  with  his  cap  in  his  hand. 

''  His  talk  was  the  most  successful  given  in  Farwell 
Hall  for  a  year.  He  aimed  straight  at  the  young  men 
in  front  of  him,  giving  the  truth  in  plain  earnest  lan- 
guage, and  when  he  finished  forty-eight  of  them  raised 
their  hands  as  seekers.  After  the  regular  service  an 
inquiry  meeting  w^as  held,  in  which  Sunday  took  an 
active  part,  praying  for  and  talking  with  the  inquirers.'* 


About  the  same  time  a  New  York  paper  had  this  to 
say  of  him  there :  ^,_^ 

"If  W.  A.  Sunday  plays  ball  as  well  and  as  earnestly  I 
as  he  talked  yesterday  before  a  large  body  of  young^ 
men  in  the  hall  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, he  ought  to  be  in  great  demand  among  the  rival 
clubs.  Although  athletic  young  men  were  especially 
invited  to  hear  the  ball  player,  not  many  were  present 
who  were  known  to  be  devoted  to  either  professional 
or  amateur  athletics,  but  for  all  that  the  audience  was 
a  large  one.  The  address  was  on  *  Earnestness  in  Chris- 
tian Work/  and  it  was  delivered  in  a  way  that  was  in 
full  harmony  with  the  subject.  , J 

" '  I  love  to  see  a  man  in  earnest  in  everything  he 
does,'  said  the  speaker,  '  and  God  has  no  use  for  a  milk- 
and-water  man.  To  succeed  in  business,  in  a  profession 
or  in  athletics,  you  have  got  to  be  in  earnest.     Yoa 


50  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

must  never  be  discouraged,  no  matter  what  comes,  for 
no  man  ever  climbed  a  mountain  who  was  scared  dizzy 
at  the  sight  of  a  molehill.  So  in  your  lives  as  Christians, 
you  must  put  your  whole  heart  in  whatever  you  under- 
take, and  always  move  onward  and  upward  with  spirit/ 

"  Mr.  Sunday  spoke  fluently  and  with  great  feeling,  and 
the  many  who  followed  him  into  the  inquiry  meeting, 
to  which  he  invited  them,  showed  that  his  words  had 
"been  with  telling  effect." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  his  very  first  efforts  Sunday 
always  had  results,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  because 
in  his  preaching  he  aimed  for  them  and  expected  them. 
This  is  still  characteristic  of  him,  for  he  never  begins 
a  campaign  without  believing  that  thousands  will  be 
converted,  and  in  final  results  his  forecasts  are  always 
more  than  fulfilled.  No  matter  how  well  the  sermon 
may  sound,  if  the  preacher  expects  nothing  he  is  not 
likely  to  be  surprised.  To  shoot  without  aim  is  a  waste 
of  powder. 

Another  eastern  paper  gave  this  graphic  picture  of 
one  of  Sunday's  early  efforts  in  the  pulpit : 
r  "  It  is  something  of  a  novelty  to  see  a  professional 
ball  player  get  up  in  the  pulpit,  and  forgetting  base  hits, 
home  runs,  brilliant  catches  and  the  plaudits  of  the  big 
throng  for  awhile,  expound  the  great  doctrines  of  Christ 
in  such  a  pathetic  and  forcible  manner  as  to  almost 
bring  tears  to  the  eyes  of  over  fifteen  hundred  people. 
Yet  that  is  the  novelty  that  was  presented  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Manayunk  last  night,  and  the 
gentleman  whose  eloquence  astonished  the  assembly  was 
William  A.  Sunday,  the  center  fielder  of  the  Philadel- 
phia (N.  L.)  Baseball  Club.  It  was  a  revelation  to  most 
of  those  who  were  present.  He  directed  the  force  of 
\  his  address  to  young  people  in  general,  and  to  young 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  51 

men  in  particular.  He  based  what  he  had  to  say  on 
Psalm  ii6: 12-13. 

"  *  No  matter  what  may  be  their  standing  in  life, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low,  moral  or  immoral, 
all  young  people  have  their  temptations,'  he  began,  *  and 
those  who  do  not  yield  to  them  in  a  greater  or  lesser 
degree  are  few  and  far  between.  Those  who  are  really 
bad  in  mind,  and  are  not  reached  by  the  Christianizing 
influences  of  the  Church  of  God,  take  these  temptations 
as  they  come  to  them  and  yield,  scarcely  knowing  that 
they  do,  and  by  so  doing  get  farther  and  farther  from 
where  the  grace  of  God  can  affect  them.  Those  whose 
moral  tendencies  are  in  the  direction  of  moral  and  upright 
life,  recognize  the  temptation  when  it  comes  and  resist 
it.  The  way,  therefore,  to  be  fortified  and  strengthened 
to  meet  temptations  as  they  come,  is  to  get  within  the 
fold  of  the  Church,  where  you  can  look  to  God  for  help 
and  protection  against  all  evil.' 

"  Many  were  visibly  affected  by  the  clearness  and  ear- 
nestness with  which  the  layman  addressed  them,  in  a 
voice  of  tender  pleading,  and  urged  them  to  make  the 
decision  and  take  the  step  that  would  make  them  safe." 

This  also  from  a  Pittsburg  paper,  concerning  one  of 
his  very  early  efforts,  as  any  one  who  has  heard  him  in 
recent  years  can  tell  at  a  glance  : 

"  As  a  public  speaker,  William  A.  Sunday,  more  fa- 
miliarly known  on  the  diamond  as  '  Billy,'  can  compare 
favorably  with  a  majority  of  young  clergymen  in  the  city 
pulpits.  He  is  not  an  ordained  minister,  but  a  member 
of  the  Pittsburg  Baseball  team,  with  Christian  principles. 
When  speaking,  his  delivery  is  pleasant  and  grammatical. 
He  has  a  ready  command  of  the  English  language,  and 
uses  many  poetic  phrases.  His  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  the  Scriptures  were  clearly  evident  in  the 


52  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

half-hour's  address  at  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation yesterday  afternoon.  He  made  no  reference  to 
the  baseball  profession,  and  instead  of  using  slang,  his 
words  were  well  chosen.  He  spoke  earnestly,  but  at  first 
seemed  somewhat  nervous.  As  he  warmed  up  to  his 
subject  he  overcame  his  uneasiness.  His  gestures  were 
in  harmony  with  his  words,  and  his  sentences  complete 
and  well  rounded.  There  was  an  attendance  of  about 
eight  hundred,  all  young  men,  who  were  much  interested 
in  the  address." 

After  becoming  a  professional  baseball  player,  Sunday 
was  engaged  by  the  athletic  associations  of  Northwestern 
University,  in  Evanston,  to  spend  his  winters  there  and 
coach  the  baseball  teams  in  their  preliminary  training. 
There  again  he  improved  his  time  by  taking  special 
studies  in  the  University.  He  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  study  of  English,  rhetoric  and  relative-  branches. 
The  knowledge  he  there  gained  of  history  shows  in  his 
preaching  to-day.  He  did  good  work  in  physiology  and 
greatly  liked  anything  geographical.  He  had  no  turn 
for  mathematics,  and  yet  knowing  their  great  impor- 
tance, compelled  himself  to  dig  into  them,  and  often 
to-day  fairly  amazes  his  great  congregations  by  the  way 
he  piles  up  figures.  What  Sunday  did  at  Northwestern, 
coupled  with  what  he  has  been  doing  ever  since  in  self- 
culture,  has  given  him  a  fine  education.  He  never  holds 
a  meeting  without  creating  astonishment  at  the  extent 
and  wide  range  of  his  information.  He  also  has  the 
rare  gift  of  being  able  to  inform  others  in  a  way  that 
charms  them  into  giving  the  closest  attention.  Even  the 
dry  bones  of  statistics  seem  to  live  and  breathe  under 
his  magic  touch. 

It  seems  incredible,  but  he  can  spend  five  minutes  in 
describing  the  eye  of  a  fly,  in  a  way  so  graphic,  and  yet 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  53 

so  telling  and  simple,  that  those  who  hear  almost  hold 
their  breath  lest  they  miss  a  word.  And  yet  this  is  the 
man  that  poorly  informed  newspapers,  at  a  distance  from 
where  he  preaches,  declare  to  be  "  ignorant  and  un- 
couth." 

Many  of  the  top-heavy  Pharisees  no  doubt  believed  that 
John  the  Baptist  didn't  know  enough  to  go  in  out  of  the 
rain,  because  his  phylacteries  were  not  broad  and  loaded 
with  starch  like  their  own. 

While  a  student  at  Northwestern,  Sunday  was  a  class- 
mate of  Clem  Studebaker,  Jr.,  and  E.  J.  Ridgway,  now 
editor  of  Everybody's  Magazine.  Prof.  Charles  Curtiss, 
now  Dean  of  the  Agricultural  College  at  Ames,  Iowa, 
was  also  a  classmate  in  the  high  school  at  Nevada. 

Even  in  his  early  boyhood  schooldays  Sunday  was 
a  good  speaker,  and  had  the  knack  of  getting  and  holding 
attention,  for  his  dynamic  energy  and  intense  earnest- 
ness, in  connection  with  his  strong  dramatic  talent,  made 
his  declamatory  efforts  vastly  different  from  the  average 
schoolboy  recitation  in  singsong.  He  put  the  same  kind 
of  life  and  reality  into  them  that  he  did  into  playing 
ball  and  leapfrog,  and  that  is  why  there  was  always  a 
flutter  of  expectation  among  the  boys  and  girls  when  it 
was  known  that  Willie  Sunday  was  going  to  "  speak  a 
piece." 

Had  Billy  been  born  in  an  Indian  tribe  he  would 
probably  have  been  called  ''  Eagle  Eye,"  for  he  can  see 
like  a  bird.  He  has  a  vision  so  keen  that  he  can  clearly 
see  the  face  of  the  most  distant  person  in  his  largest 
audiences,  and  this,  as  every  speaker  knows,  has  been 
an  advantage  of  great  importance  to  him. 

His  good  eyesight  has  also  quite  naturally  made  him 
a  keen  and  close  observer,  so  that  wherever  he  goes  he 
almost  unconsciously  finds  and  stores  away  for  future 


54<  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

use  good  material  for  illustrations  and  sermons,  as  a  bee 
stores  up  honey.  He  will  walk  quickly  through  a  room, 
a  large  railway  station  or  a  factory  without  appearing 
to  notice  anything,  and  yet  will  afterward,  when  least 
expected,  describe  all  that  was  in  sight.  Had  he  taken 
up  the  career  of  a  detective  he  might  have  made  Sherlock 
Holmes  look  to  his  laurels. 

Sunday  is  also  a  great  student  of  human  nature  and 
a  close  observer  of  character.  He  is  seldom  mistaken 
in  his  estimate  of  a  person,  and  seems  never  to  forget 
a  face  he  has  once  seen.  When  he  begins  a  new  meeting 
it  is  surprising  in  what  a  short  time  he  will  know  all 
the  ministers  and  ushers  by  name,  and  be  almost  as 
well  posted  concerning  the  business  men,  city  and  county 
officials,  school  teachers  and  others,  as  a  local  politician. 
He  also  quickly  absorbs  and  assimilates  information  as 
to  local  affairs,  and  before  being  on  the  scene  a  week 
will  be  posted  like  a  native. 

Among  his  other  experiences,  Sunday  was  for  a  time 
a  fireman  on  the  railroad.  This  has  given  him  a  strong 
hold  on  railroad  men,  so  that  in  every  railroad  town 
where  he  has  held  meetings — and  they  have  been  many — 
he  has  had  many  converts  among  them.  In  shop  talks 
to  them  he  can  talk  so  glibly  about  *'  filing  brasses,'* 
"  gumming  out  nozzles,"  "  leaky  flues,"  "  broken  side- 
rods  "  and  "  blown-out  cylinder  heads  "  that  through  the 
freemasonry  of  the  rail  every  man  of  them  knows  that 
Billy  has  been  there. 

In  the  meeting  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  more  than  a  score 
of  engineers  were  converted,  and  the  same  was  also  the 
case  at  Austin,  Minn.  There  was  a  time  when  about 
every  man  who  drove  a  fast  train  on  the  Burlington 
between  Chicago  and  Omaha  had  been  converted  in  a 
Billy  Sunday  meeting.     The  railroad  men  all  seem  to 


AT    THE    AGE    OF    23.  AT    THE    AGE    OF    24. 


AT    THE    AGE    OF    25.  AT    THE    AGE    OF    30. 


JOINS  A  LIVE  CHURCH  55 

know  him  and  love  him,  and  he  is  sure  of  finding  warm 
friends  among  them  wherever  he  goes.  Unless  he  is 
greatly  pressed  for  time,  he  seldom  leaves  a  train  on 
which  he  has  traveled  any  distance  without  making  his 
way  to  the  cab  to  have  a  few  words  with  the  engineer. 


V 


PLAYING  BALL  AND  GIVING  RELIGIOUS 

TALKS 

IT  was  certainly  not  a  matter  of  mere  chance  that 
Sunday's  first  religious  talks  were  given  for  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  In  no  other  part  of 
his  career  is  it  more  evident  that  he  was  clearly  directed 
by  the  hand  of  God.  His  first  calls  coming  from  the 
source  they  did,  made  it  inevitable  that  his  first  audi- 
ences should  be  composed  mainly  of  young  men,  and 
this  undoubtedly  decided  the  character  of  his  preaching 
and  evangelism. 

There  is  nothing  more  natural  than  for  a  speaker  to 
adapt  what  he  says  to  the  needs  and  understanding  of 
those  to  whom  he  speaks,  and  this  perhaps,  more  than 
anything  else,  had  to  do  with  making  Sunday  a  preacher 
to  men  and  a  winner  of  men,  for  by  this  characteristic 
lie  has  from  the  outset  been  distinguished. 

He  preaches  a  stalwart  gospel  that  appeals  to  men, 
attracts  men  to  hear  it,  and  in  a  way  little  short  of 
marvelous.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  evangelist  since  the 
day  of  John  the  Baptist  has  been  so  unmistakably  a 
preacher  to  men  as  William  A.  Sunday.  Among  his 
converts,  wherever  he  goes,  are  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  men.  His  men's  meetings  have  been,  without  a  chance 
for  doubt,  the  largest  ever  held  anywhere,  and  am.ong 
those  who  take  a  stand  in  them  are  men  of  every  grade 
known   in   the   community,   from  the  humblest   to   the 

56 


GIVING  RELIGIOUS  TALKS  57 

highest.  This  is  because  he  learned  right  at  the  begin- 
ning to  preach  with  a  definite  object  in  view,  and  with 
a  confidence  that  results  would  be  exactly  what  he  aimed 
for. 

Had  his  first  converts  been  made  up  of  people  of  all 
kinds  and  conditions,  it  is  not  certain  that  he  would  so 
soon  have  learned  to  draw  a  bead  in  his  preaching,  but 
seeing  so  many  young  men  before  him,  he  would  in- 
stinctively try  to  reach  young  men  with  his  message. 
Being  himself  a  young  man,  he  knew  young  men,  and 
he  knew  what  their  sins  and  temptations  were.  He 
knew  what  pitfalls  were  set  for  their  undoing,  and 
thundered  out  warnings  against  them  in  a  way  that  was 
tremendously  effective.  He  gave  no  heed  to  glittering 
generalities,  but  loaded  up  with  buckshot  and  tried  to 
shoot  to  kill.  The  rough  old  flintlock  he  took  up  and 
began  to  load  and  fire,  was  not  as  elegant  as  the  nickel- 
plated  capsnapper  that  is  so  often  sent  out  from  the 
homiletic  arsenal,  but  every  time  he  pulled  the  trigger 
big  game  was  sure  to  fall. 

An  examination  of  Sunday's  earliest  efforts  shows  that 
he  always  sought  to  hit  the  nail  squarely  on  the  head, 
and  to  hit  it  hard  when  the  blov/  fell.  He  didn't  fire 
loud  broadsides  into  the  sins  of  people  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world,  as  many  well-meaning  preachers  sometimes 
do,  but  he  took  a  dead  aim  at  the  vices  and  misdoings 
of  the  young  fellow  who  sat  there  before  him,  and  that 
is  why  he  has  always  made  the  feathers  fly. 

When  he  saw  the  young  fellows  look  scared  and  turn 
pale,  he  knew  he  was  beginning  to  draw  blood,  and  so 
he  would  lower  his  aim  a  little,  and  then  let  them  have 
it  again  right  where  they  lived.  There  may  perhaps 
be  a  preacher  here  and  there  who  could  preach  for  years 
in  a  community  where  every  man  always  stole  the  chicken 


58  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

for  his  Sunday  dinner,  and  yet  never  put  anything  in 
a  sermon  that  would  throw  a  chill  over  the  meeting,  but 
it  couldn't  be  that  way  with  Billy  Sunday. 

The  man  who  feels  a  proud  complacency  in  thinking 
how  much  better  he  is  than  other  men  is  certain  to  begin 
to  squirm  very  soon  after  he  comes  under  Sunday's 
preaching,  and  all  because  Billy  has  learned  so  well  how 
to  fire  the  shot  and  shell  of  gospel  truth  as  to  make  it 
hit  about  everything  under  the  sun  that  bears  the  name 
of  sin. 

No  doubt  the  ex-ball  player's  experience  on  the  dia- 
mond has  had  much  to  do  with  making  him  always 
have  a  clear  and  definite  purpose  in  view  every  time 
he  takes  a  text.  As  a  ball  player,  he  had  soon  learned 
that  no  ball  was  ever  to  be  thrown  just  to  keep  it  in 
motion,  but  that  it  should  go  with  a  true  aim  whenever 
it  left  the  hand. 

As  a  ball  player,  it  had  been  his  habit  to  try  to  send 
the  ball  right  where  it  ought  to  go  to  hurt  the  other  side 
and  help  his  own — and  do  it  quick.  And  so  it  may  be 
that  to  his  athletic  training  is  due  some  of  the  earnestness 
and  precision  with  which  he  preaches.  At  all  events,  it 
is  certainly  true  that  he  goes  to  the  pulpit  with  as  strong 
a  determination  to  win  there  as  he  carried  with  him  to 
the  diamond. 

In  the  early  days  men  flocked  to  hear  Sunday  because 
they  knew  how  well  he  could  play  ball,  and  they  probably 
reasoned  that  the  man  who  would  do  that  so  well  would 
not  preach  poorly,  and  in  this  they  were  not  mistaken. 
They  knew  there  was  always  something  doing  when  the 
ball  was  batted  his  way  or  when  it  was  time  for  him  to 
go  to  the  plate. 

A  stolen  base  by  him  often  stirred  up  the  fans  more 
than  a  home  run  by  another  player.     They  had  seen 


SUNDAY    IN    HIS    OLD    NATIONAL    LEAGUE    UNIFORM. 


GIVING  RELIGIOUS  TALKS  59 

games  played  in  which  he  had  been  the  only  man  to 
make  a  run,  and  they  believed  there  would  be  something 
doing  that  would  be  well  worth  seeing  and  hearing  when 
he  stepped  into  the  pulpit.  So  from  the  very  beginning 
the  audiences  he  drew  were  large,  and  from  that  day  to 
this  he  has  never  held  a  meeting  in  a  building  that  was 
large  enough  to  accommodate  the  crowds  he  drew. 

Sunday  was  not  only  clear  and  pointed  in  his  first 
preaching,  but  was  also  practical.  No  man  could  hear 
him  without  learning  something  that  would  help  him 
toward  a  better  life,  and  whatever  he  said  was  also 
characterized  by  good  common  sense.  When  he  hitched 
his  wagon  to  a  star  he  was  careful  to  keep  all  the  wheels 
on  the  ground.  He  ran  off  at  no  tangents,  but  stayed 
in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

There  was  nothing  wishy-washy  or  theologically  non- 
sensical even  in  his  earliest  declarations.  From  the  be- 
ginning he  insisted  that  there  could  be  no  salvation  for 
any  kind  of  a  sinner  without  true  repentance  from  all 
sin  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  keynote  of  his  preach- 
ing, then  as  now,  was  that  without  Christ  no  man  is 
saved,  and  with  him  no  one  is  lost. 

From  the  beginning  his  preaching  was  full  of  original- 
ity, and  intensely  interesting.  There  was  a  charm  and 
freshness  about  it  that  was  a  constant  surprise.  The 
common  people  flocked  to  hear  him  because  they  could 
understand  him.  No  matter  what  his  subject  chanced 
to  be,  he  made  the  points  stick  out  like  the  ears  of  a 
rabbit.  And  this  is  still  true  of  him.  Not  once  in  a 
meeting  does  he  ever  lose  his  freshness  or  vigor.  The 
demand  for  seats  at  the  close  of  a  meeting  is,  if  anything, 
stronger  than  at  the  beginning.  He  is  never  monotonous, 
but  is  as  full  of  variety  as  a  kaleidoscope. 

In  handling  themes  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  interest 


60  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

an  ordinary  mind,  Sunday  surprises  and  delights.  He 
will  take  an  old  subject,  and  by  a  few  unexpected  touches 
make  it  new.  In  his  hands  a  Bible  incident  will  seem 
to  be  something  you  have  seen  with  your  own  eyes.  He 
will  make  the  Roman  centurion  almost  take  you  by  the 
hand,  and  begin  to  tell  you  all  about  the  part  he  had 
in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Luke. 

When  blind  Bartimeus  receives  his  sight  you  could 
not  be  any  more  glad  to  have  the  same  thing  happen 
with  your  own  brother,  and  you  will  rub  your  eyes  and 
almost  believe  you  can  see  Zaccheus  climbing  the  tree, 
and  when  he  takes  the  Master  and  his  disciples  home 
with  him,  you  witness  the  whole  scene.  It  is  not  a 
recitation  to  you,  but  the  real  thing. 

Being  richly  endowed  with  a  creative  imagination  and 
rare  descriptive  power,  Sunday  can  take  an  abstract 
statement  of  fact,  that  to  the  common  mind  will  seem 
to  be  scarcely  more  than  a  dry  bundle  of  bones,  and  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye  it  will  become  a  thing  of  life, 
and  that  is  why  the  multitudes  will  hang  on  his  lips  day 
after  day,  for  many  weeks,  without  any  abatement  of 
interest. 

And  that  is  why  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  every 
preacher  within  a  hundred  miles  of  a  Sunday  meeting 
to  go  and  hear  a  few  sermons  as  a  part  of  bis  post- 
graduate course  in  practical  homiletics.  He  may  have 
his  clerical  dignity  rumpled  somewhat,  but  he  will  learn 
how  to  get  closer  to  men. 
.  -  The  Advance  had  this  to  say  of  Sunday  quite  recently : 
^  "  Let  us  consider  him  as  a  phenomenon  before  we  con- 
sider him  as  an  evangelist,  and  thus  avoid,  if  possible, 
the  divided  feeling  regarding  evangelism. 

"  As  a  phenomenon  we  see  him  drawing  amazing  audi- 
ences, not  only  once  or  twice,  or  several  times,  but  day 


GIVING  RELIGIOUS  TALKS  61 

and  night  for  weeks.  We  see  one  throng  trying  to  get 
into  his  big  tabernacle  before  another  gets  out.  We  see 
all  kinds  of  organizations  of  men  asking  for  reservations 
in  the  building.  We  see  trainloads  of  people  coming 
from  neighboring  towns.  And  he  is  drawing  all  these 
multitudes  just  when  magazine  writers  and  critics  of 
Christianity  are  declaring  that  the  pulpit  has  lost  its 
power.  How  many  other  men  in  America  could  attract 
such  throngs  week  after  week  ?  Could  any  half-dozen  of 
the  best  orators  in  the  land  put  together  do  it?  . — 

"  The  eloquence  of  Webster  and  Clay  is  echoing  in 
college  halls  and  on  political  platforms,  but  did  we  ever 
hear  that  either  of  them  kept  tens  of  thousands  of  people 
coming  to  hear  them  through  a  period  of  six  weeks,  in 
the  same  place  and  on  the  same  theme? 

"  And  these  people  do  not  simply  applaud  and  laugh 
and  then  go  away.  It  is  one  thing  for  a  political  leader 
to  awaken  a  deafening  roar  of  applause.  It  is  another 
thing  to  make  men  and  women  weep  over  sins,  and 
promise  to  change  their  habits  of  life.  With  all  his  won- 
derful eloquence  and  mastery  over  multitudes,  Webster 
could  not  master  his  own  love  for  drink,  but  this  man 
puts  such  a  spell  upon  his  fellowmen  that  they  go  away 
with  so  great  a  grip  on  their  habits  and  appetites  as  to 
become  new  men.  The  very  markets  have  to  change 
their  orders  after  Billy  Sunday  has  been  in  town. 

'*  We  say,  therefore,  that  William  A.  Sunday  is  as 
remarkable  a  human  phenomenon  as  can  be  found  in 
the  land. 

'*  In  the  next  place,  let  us  consider  this  man  as  a 
preacher.  He  is  not  exactly  eloquent  and  not  at  all 
elegant.  He  says  he  is  '  scared  '  of  dignity,  and  dignity 
would  be  equally  frightened  if  it  met  him  out  alone. 
Both  do  well  to  go  armed  when  in  the  same  vicinity. 


62  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

After  a  fashion,  he  is  a  preacher  from  the  wilderness, 
and  his  messages  are  clothed  in  camel's  hair,  goatskins 
and  sheepskins,  hide,  hoof,  horns  and  all.  And  when 
some  of  his  most  excited  denunciations  are  over  there 
is  a  smell  of  a  volcano  in  the  air.  He  uses  the  word 
hell  so  freely  and  frequently  that  it  seems  like  a  pet  in 
the  household  of  his  vocabulary. 

"  And  yet  the  people  nearly  fall  over  one  another  in  the 
rush  and  crush  to  hear  him.  They  come  in  automobiles, 
in  trains,  on  foot,  and  when  there  they  camp  down  and 

__wait  for  hours  until  he  '  goes  to  the  bat.* 
I  "  How  shall  we  explain  it  ?  Is  it  because  this  preacher 
who  graduated  from  th^  ball  ground  to  the  pulpit  uses 
language  which  the  people  better  understand  than  they 
do  the  cultured  speech  of  the  graduate  ?  In  parting  with 
dignity,  did  Mr.  Sunday  become  hale  fellow  well  met 
with  men  who  live  in  the  market  place  six  days  in  the 
week  and  go  to  church  on  one  day?  Is  it  because  he 
tells  a  story  in  the  same  language  that  the  story-teller 
in  the  corner  grocery  uses,  that  he  *  gets  next '  to  the 

t  average  man  ? 

"  We  do  not  answer  these  questions,  but  we  do  say  that 
if  we  were  trying  to  teach  men  how  to  preach  we  should 
make  a  study  of  Mr.  Sunday  and  his  meetings.  A  great 
United  States  Senator  followed  Col.  Ingersoll  all  over 
the  state  of  Maine  to  hear  him  captivate  the  crowds  in 
a  great  political  campaign.  It  would  be  well  if  some 
theological  professor  followed  Billy  Sunday  long  enough 
to  get  hold  of  the  psychology  of  his  success  in  attract- 
ing multitudes. 

j  "  In  closing,  let  us  consider  in  a  brief  word  the  fact 
that  the  message  of  this  man  is  that  of  the  prophets, 
priests  and  preachers  of  the  ages.  Could  he  hold  the 
multitudes  with  any  other  message  ?     Certainly  not.     Let 


GIVING  RELIGIOUS  TALKS  63 

men  say  what  they  will  about  religion  being  played  out, 
it  still  is  the  one  thing  that  gets  nearer  to  the  center 
of  human  interest  than  any  other  theme.  The  very 
faults  of  Mr.  Sunday's  preaching,  about  which  his  critics 
so  severely  complain,  should  help  to  convince  them,  and 
all  of  us,  that  the  American  people  are  still  in  the  grip  , 
of  a  profound  belief  in  God."  !\ 


VI 


MEETS  HIS  FUTURE  WIFE  AT  A  PRAYER 

MEETING 

IT  is  very  significant  that  Sunday  first  met  the  woman 
who  became  his  wife  at  a  prayer  meeting,  a  pretty 
sure  evidence  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  had  much 
to  do  with  arranging  a  life  partnership  for  the  man  who 
was  to  be  so  wondrously  used  as  an  evangeHst. 

Among  the  members  of  the  church  with  which  he 
united  was  a  young  woman  by  the  name  of  Helen  A. 
Thompson,  a  deeply  religious  young  lady,  who  was  a 
Sunday  school  teacher  and  an  active  worker  in  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Society.  She  had  for  about  six  years 
been  living  a  devoted  and  consecrated  Christian  life, 
and  was  exerting  a  constantly  widening  influence  for 
good. 

She  was  also  a  young  woman  of  strong  personality, 
artistic  temperament  and  unmistakable  talent  in  several 
lines,  not  the  least  of  which  was  her  rare  good  sense. 
She  was  of  a  nature  so  ardent  and  ingenuous  that  reli- 
gion with  her  had  to  be  a  life,  and  for  life,  and  this  was 
the  young  woman  in  whose  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Sun- 
day the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  as  clearly  seen  as  it  was 
in  leading  the  servant  of  Abraham  to  find  a  bride  for 
Isaac  in  Rebecca. 

Miss  Thompson's  father  was  William  Thompson,  one 
of  the  pioneer  wholesale  dairymen  and  ice  cream  manu- 
facturers of  Chicago.     He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 

64 


MEETS  HIS  FUTURE  WIFE  65 

War,  and  was  badly  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 
He  served  in  Company  I,  Fifty-second  Illinois  Infantry. 
He  was  converted  after  he  had  passed  the  meridian  of 
life,  and  had  united  with  the  same  church  Mr.  Sunday 
joined,  and  continued  in  that  relation  until  his  death. 

Mrs.  Sunday's  mother  died  several  years  ago.  As 
may  be  supposed,  from  the  way  in  which  she  trained 
her  daughter,  she  was  a  woman  of  sterling  Christian 
character.  Both  of  Mrs.  Sunday's  parents  wxre  of  old 
Scottish  stock,  and  were  born  in  the  Highlands.  She  is 
very  proud  of  her  Scottish  ancestry,  and  rejoices  in  the 
fact  that  she  is  a  full-blooded  Scot.  She  was  born  at 
Dundee,  111. 

When  Sunday  and  Miss  Thompson  first  met  it  was 
a  case  of  love  at  first  sight  with  him,  but  not  so  with 
her.  She  already  had  a  friend  toward  whom  she  had 
quite  a  strong  inclination.  Soon  after  she  and  Sunday 
began  to  meet  in  church  circles,  she  tried  to  get  him 
interested  in  one  of  her  girl  friends,  and  so  managed  as  to 
have  them  frequently  thrown  together,  but  beyond  this 
all  her  scheming  failed. 

But  finally  Sunday  managed  in  some  way  to  get  the 
girl  by  whom  he  had  been  so  deeply  smitten  to  see  that 
he  had  no  interest  at  all  in  her  chum,  but  did  have  a 
great  interest  in  her. 

It  was  some  time,  however,  before  the  course  of  his 
wooing  became  anything  like  smooth,  and  mainly  be- 
cause Mr.  Thompson  brought  down  his  foot  against  his 
daughter  having  a  ball  player  for  a  suitor,  though  Mrs. 
Thompson  was  very  much  predisposed  in  his  favor  be- 
cause he  was  a  Christian. 

While  this  state  of  affairs  existed  he  could  not  call 
upon  the  young  woman  at  her  home.  The  only  place 
he  could  make  sure  of  seeing  her  was  at  the  prayer  meet- 


66  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

ing;  but  then  her  '  steady  company  '  was  there  too.  This 
rival  took  her  home  week  after  week,  but  Billy  bided 
his  time,  and  at  last  there  came  a  time  when  Helen  was 
there  alone.  He  was  quick  to  improve  his  opportunity 
and  was  accepted  as  an  escort. 

The  Thompson  home  was  only  a  hundred  yards  from 
the  church,  but  the  very  first  shot  out  of  the  box  the  ball 
player  inaugurated  a  new  system — for  he  was  a  '  fielder ' 
and  no  '  short-stop,'  and  so  he  insisted  upon  walking 
around  four  sides  of  the  block  to  the  Thompson  home, 
instead  of  half  of  one.  From  that  time  on  he  had  his 
innings,  and  was  never  whitewashed. 

Sunday  was  twenty-four  years  old  when  he  met  his 
future  wife.  He  had  been  playing  with  the  Chicago 
White  Stockings  since  1883.  Her  home  was  at  the 
corner  of  Throop  and  Adams  streets.  The  West  Side 
Ball  Grounds  were  between  Harrison  and  Congress 
streets,  and  Billy  managed  to  pass  the  Thompson  home 
four  times  a  day  while  the  team  was  playing  on  the  home 
grounds.  Mrs.  Sunday  says  the  front  steps  seemed  to 
need  sweeping  many  times  a  day  when  the  team  was 
on  the  local  schedule. 

Many  who  were  acquainted  with  the  old  West  Side 
Ball  Park  in  Chicago  will  remember  the  toboggan  slide 
Anson  had  in  operation  there  during  favorable  weather 
in  the  winter  time.  Anson  was  never  more  contented 
than  when,  for  one  reason  or  another,  he  had  Sunday 
with  him.  His  partiality  for  the  young  player  had  long 
been  noted,  but  Sunday  was  so  generally  liked  it  had 
never  caused  any  enmity  or  jealousy.  So  Anson  insisted 
that  Sunday  should  act  as  one  of  the  managers  of  the 
slide,  and  to  this  Billy  agreed  on  condition  that  Helen 
Thompson  should  have  all  the  free  slides  she  wanted. 
The  number  of  these  turned  out  to  be  many. 


MEETS  HIS  FUTURE  WIFE  6T 

In  the  spring  of  1888  Sunday  was  sold  by  the  Chicago 
White  Stockings  to  the  Pittsburg  team.  This  caused  a 
great  separation  between  the  lovers  that  was  most  trying 
to  them,  but  it  added  not  a  little  to  Uncle  Sam's  revenue 
from  the  sale  of  postage  stamps. 

"  I  frequently  got  letters  from  him  that  were  forty- 
eight  pages  long,"  says  Mrs.  Sunday,  *'  and  really  they 
contained  nothing  but  variations  of  '  I'm  so  lonesome ! '  "  ^ 

It  may  not  be  surprising  to  the  reader  to  know  that 
this  lonesome  feeling  still  troubles  Mr.  Sunday  whenever 
he  has  to  be  separated  from  his  wife. 

There  is  one  room  in  their  home  at  Winona  Lake  in 
which  Mrs.  Sunday  keeps  a  small  old-fashioned  sofa 
and  a  picture  that  hung  over  it  in  Father  Thompson's 
parlor  when  the  baseball  player  went  there  courting  her. 
The  picture  was  from  her  own  easel,  and  one  of  her 
earliest  efforts  in  the  realm  of  art. 

They  were  married  September  5,  1888,  and  made  their  / 
wedding  journey  in  connection  with  the  movements  of  , 
the  team  at  the  close  of  the  season. 

Their  marriage  has  been  an  ideal  one,  and  though  they 
have  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  themselves  married, 
the  Sundays  are  still  lovers,  and  never  tire  of  each  other's 
company.  He  never  takes  a  step  of  any  importance 
without  consulting  her;  and  there  are  not  many  minof 
affairs  that  he  will  decide  without  wanting  to  know  what 
she  thinks,  and  the  moment  he  knows  what  she  thinks 
he  knows  what  he  will  do — and  so  does  she.  The  same 
is  no  doubt  just  as  true  of  her.  Their  married  life  is 
a  partnership,  in  which  each  partner  has  equal  rank  in 
the  firm,  and  an  equal  voice  in  all  its  transactions.  She 
is  the  power  behind  the  throne  wuth  him,  and  is  just  the 
kind  of  wife  such  a  man  must  have  to  w4n  a  great 
success. 


68  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

If  the  devil  knows  anything  about  the  future,  he  must 
have  been  drugged  and  sound  asleep  v^hen  the  young 
couple  first  met  each  other,  or  if  he  understands  his 
business — and  nobody  better  knows  than  Sunday  that 
he  does — it  is  hard  to  understand  why  he  didn't  take 
a  hand  in  finding  a  wife  for  Billy,  as  he  seems  to  have 
done  for  many  preachers  and  evangelists,  from  Samson 
down  to  this  morning's  paper. 

Everybody  who  knows  Sunday  knov/s  that  he  has  been 
made  out  of  about  the  same  kind  of  clay  as  that  from 
which  the  Lord  molded  Simon  Peter,  with  perhaps  a 
little  more  sand,  for  he  is  impetuous,  nervous  and  im- 
pulsive— saying  and  doing  things  to-day  sometimes  that 
he  will  be  sorry  for  to-morrow.  And  just  as  a  train  that 
can  eat  up  space  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  or  more  a  minute 
needs  an  airbrake  able  to  ease  it  up  when  needed,  so  the 
dynamic  William  becomes  a  greater  and  more  eilective 
man  by  his  life  partnership  with  the  cool-headed  and 
far-seeing  "  Nellie/' 

Sunday's  pent-up  energy  is  so  great  that  often  he 
would  go  through  a  troop  and  leap  over  a  wall,  when  it 
would  be  little  more  than  a  waste  of  muscle,  were  it  not 
for  the  woman  with  the  steady-going  Scotch  blood  who 
stands  beside  him.  Her  Highland  ancestry  and  Mac- 
Gregor  training  holds  her  steady  and  keeps  her  cool, 
collected  and  tactful  under  all  circumstances,  and  the 
worth  of  this  to  the  firm  nobody  more  keenly  appreciates 
and  realizes  than  Sunday. 

Sunday  is  always  at  his  best  when  his  wife  is  with 
him,  and  she  so  arranges  matters  at  home  that  she  can 
spend  a  great  deal  of  time  with  him  in  every  campaign, 
and  is  therefore  a  constant  help  and  inspiration  to  him. 
She  is  not  only  a  wise  counselor  and  good  in  planning, 
but  is  a  good  evangelist  herself,  and  is  ready  and  qualified 


OLD   SOFA    FROM    THE   THOMPSON    HOME,        JUST    BIG 
ENOUGH    FOR   TWO." 


MEETS  HIS  FUTURE  WIFE  69 

to  lend  a  hand  wherever  needed.  He  hates  to  have  her 
away  from  him,  even  for  a  day,  and  when  he  goes  to 
make  a  single  address  nearly  always  takes  her  along. 

What  a  mighty  influence,  therefore,  did  Sunday's 
meeting  with  this  woman,  while  his  Christian  life  was 
in  the  formative  period,  have  upon  all  his  after  career. 
We  all  know  that  he  has  done  a  great  work — an  immense 
work — but  only  God  himself  knows  how  great  and  far- 
reaching  has  been  the  work  of  the  faithful  woman  who 
has  stood  by  his  side  in  every  campaign. 


VII 


LEAVES    BASEBALL    TO    ENGAGE    IN    RELI- 
GIOUS WORK 

IT  has  been  shown  that  Sunday's  first  Christian  work, 
outside  of  the  church  with  which  he  had  united, 
w^as  in  responding  to  calls  for  religious  talks  from 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and  then  a  little 
later  he  had  many  opportunities  to  speak  to  young  people 
in  Sunday  schools,  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  and 
in  the  churches,  and  by  these  efforts  his  talent  for  public 
speaking  was  being  developed. 

His  first  addresses  having  been  given  for  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  naturally  turned  his  attention 
more  directly  to  the  work  they  were  doing,  and  having 
a  great  personal  interest  in  them,  and  especially  in  young 
men,  and  believing  that  field  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  promising  for  Christian  effort,  the  conviction 
grew  upon  him  that  he  ought  to  do  what  he  could  in 
connection  with  the  Y.  M.  C  A.  organization,  just  as 
Moody  had  been  led  to  do  at  the  beginning  of  his  public 
religious  career. 

Several  places  in  Association  work  had  opened  up  to 
him,  and  the  Central  Association  in  Chicago,  especially, 
had  for  some  time  been  strongly  urging  him  to  become 
the  Secretary  of  its  Religious  Department.  This  he  was 
eager  to  do,  although  the  pay  was  only  eighty-three 
dollars  per  month,  and  he  was  receiving  several  hundred 

70 


ENGAGES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORK  71 

for  playing  ball.  But  there  seemed  to  be  an  insurmounta- 
ble difficulty  in  the  way,  and  that  was  a  contract  with 
his  baseball  managers  that  still  had  several  years  to  run. 
He  had  asked  to  be  released  from  this  contract,  but  after 
he  became  a  Christian  they  seemed  to  be  even  more 
anxious  to  keep  him,  on  account  of  his  good  influence 
over  other  players.  Every  man  of  them  had  a  higher 
respect  for  him,  for  the  stand  he  had  taken,  and  cut  out 
profanity  and  rough  talk  when  with  him. 

But  the  Chicago  Association  continued  to  urge  him 
to  accept  the  position  it  had  offered,  and  he  being  so 
strongly  inclined  to  go  into  that  work,  could  not  but  feel 
that  it  must  be  of  God,  and  so  he  began  to  earnestly 
pray  that  the  difficulty  might  be  removed. 

Previous  to  this  time  there  had  been  a  movement  in 
which  many  of  the  old  National  League  players  had  with- 
drawn from  their  teams,  and  established  what  was 
known  as  the  Brotherhood  Association,  the  forerunner 
of  the  American  League.  In  the  spring  of  1891  the 
Brotherhood  players  returned  to  the  National  League, 
and  this  breakup  of  the  Brotherhood  came  quite  provi- 
dential for  Sunday,  as  it  flooded  the  baseball  market 
with  players,  and  his  managers  became  willing  to  release 
him. 

Sunday  at  once  accepted  the  position  that  had  been 
offered  him  by  the  Chicago  Association,  and  fiUed  it  for 
three  years.  Time  after  time  the  head  of  the  Associa- 
tion work  in  Chicago  sought  to  persuade  him  to  take 
charge  of  the  physical  culture  and  gymnastic  work,  but 
his  heart  was  in  religious  work  and  he  could  not  think 
of  doing  anything  else. 

As  it  fell  upon  Sunday  to  provide  speakers  for  the 
noonday  prayer  and  other  meetings  held  in  Farwell 
Hall,  his  connection  with  the  Central  Association  brought 


72  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

him  in  close  touch  with  the  ministers  of  the  city,  and 
made  him  acquainted  with  many  visitors  who  were  men 
of  prominence  in  various  reUgious  bodies. 

The  experience  Sunday  had  in  Association  work  in 
Chicago  has  been  of  untold  value  to  him  since,  for  it 
brought  him  in  contact  with  many  people  who  needed 
all  the  help  that  God  could  give  them.  This  greatly 
quickened  his  own  faith,  for  he  had  many  opportunities 
of  seeing  that  God  ''  is  mighty  to  save,  and  strong  to 
deliver.*'  His  duties  often  had  much  in  them  of  a  home 
missionary  character.  Visiting  the  sick  and  destitute, 
praying  with  the  troubled,  comforting  the  afflicted  and 
burying  the  dead. 

At  one  hour  he  might  be  going  about  among  the  sa- 
loons, distributing  cards  of  invitation  to  meetings  and 
urging  those  he  found  there  to  attend,  while  the  next  he 
might  be  on  his  knees  praying  for  some  despairing  man 
who  had  just  been  making  a  fruitless  attempt  at  suicide. 
One  day  the  duty  of  the  hour  would  be  to  lead  the 
noonday  prayer  meeting  at  Farwell  Hall,  while  on  an- 
other it  might  be  to  go  about  among  the  business  men, 
trying  to  raise  money  enough  to  save  some  poor  mother 
with  a  brood  of  little  children  and  a  drunken  husband 
from  being  set  out  on  the  street. 

Could  the  busy  man  of  whom  we  speak  only  take  time 
to  write  out  some  of  his  recollections  of  heartbreaking 
experiences  he  witnessed  when  serving  as  Secretary  of 
Religious  Work  with  the  Chicago  Association,  they 
would  make  a  tale  to  melt  a  heart  of  stone.  They  would 
also  help  us  to  understand  why  from  that  time  to  this 
he  has  had  such  a  great  passion  for  souls  that  it  has 
carried  him  on  from  meeting  to  meeting,  and  from  one 
hard  campaign  to  another,  pouring  out  his  life  and 
strength  without  stint,  and  amazing  his  friends  at  the 


ENGAGES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORK         73 

way  he  has  managed  to  stand  up  under  his  burden  with 
scarcely  any  rest. 

It  may  also  be  that  the  strange  and  unexpected  ex- 
periences he  encountered  on  the  dark  side  of  the  great 
city  had  no  Httle  to  do  with  shaping  the  whole  course 
and  character  of  Sunday's  after  ministry,  and  especially 
so  of  his  preaching.  Going  into  places  so  low  down  in 
sin  and  degradation,  and  witnessing  the  effect  the  simple 
presentation  of  the  Word  of  God  could  produce  there, 
and  the  transforming  wonders  the  Spirit  of  God  could 
work  there^  would  make  the  presence  and  power  of  God 
a  reality  to  be  safely  relied  upon  ever  afterward. 

This  would  convince  Sunday,  as  nothing  else  could, 
that  nothing  short  of  absolute  regeneration  could  ever 
stop  and  heal  the  awful  ravages  of  sin.  To  attempt 
reform  in  the  black  depths  of  the  great  city  would  be 
as  useless  as  trying  to  purify  the  ocean  by  pouring  into 
it  a  few  gallons  of  spring  water,  and  that  may  be  Vv^hy 
the  heart  of  his  preaching  has  been,  not  mere  reforma- 
tion, but  "  Get  Right  With  God !  "  And  this,  too,  may 
account  for  his  having  been  such  a  diligent  reader  of 
the  Bible  that  his  sermons  are  fairly  saturated  with  the 
great  truths  of  the  wonderful  Book. 

Sunday's  first  experience  in  direct  evangelistic  work 
was  in  association  with  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  who, 
next  to  Moody,  w^as  the  most  widely  known  American 
evangelist.  While  Sunday  was  with  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation Chapman's  singer  was  Peter  Bilhorn,  and  he 
and  Sunday  were  warm  friends.  It  was  through  Bilhorn 
that  Chapman  and  Sunday  became  acquainted.  Dr.  C. 
was  greatly  impressed  by  Sunday's  earnestness  and  un- 
usual power  in  reaching  and  winning  men.  He  needed 
an  assistant,  and  believed  that  Sunday's  help  would  be 


74  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

just  what  he  ought  to  have,  so  he  made  the  ball  player 
a  proposition,  which  he  at  length  accepted. 

Sunday  at  first  acted  as  an  advance  man.  He  would 
go  into  the  nev/  field  and  make  the  preliminary  arrange- 
ments. He  would  superintend  the  erection  of  the  tent, 
when  one  was  used,  get  a  band  of  singers  organized,  and 
look  after  necessary  details.  He  would  begin  the  meeting 
and  do  the  preaching  for  a  few  days,  until  Dr.  Chapman 
arrived,  and  then  afterward  would  hold  auxiliary  meet- 
ings in  outlying  churches.  At  noontime  he  would  speak 
to  the  men  in  shops,  factories  and  other  places.  Through 
his  co-operating  assistance  in  this  way,  interest  in  the 
central  meeting  would  be  awakened  much  sooner. 

Many  of  the  meetings  were  held  in  large  tents,  but 
not  all  of  them.  Sometimes  the  place  visited  would  have 
a  large  hall  or  other  suitable  building  that  could  be 
utilized.  A  systematic  organization  was  always  ef- 
fected, and  the  hearty  co-operation  of  churches  enlisted. 
Special  services  were  held  for  young  people,  for  children, 
for  men  and  for  women,  and  every  legitimate  means 
used  to  arouse  the  religious  interest  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. The  unmistakable  power  of  printer's  ink  was 
acknowledged,  and  almost  invariably  the  press  gave  posi- 
tive help,  by  publishing  intelligent  reports  of  the  meet- 
ings. As  no  two  meetings  were  alike,  something  was 
learned  in  each  one  that  would  add  to  the  efficiency  and 
eftectiveness  of  the  next. 

By  this  it  will  be  seen  in  what  a  splendid  school  young 
Sunday  found  himself,  and  how  the  hand  of  God  was 
leading  and  preparing  him  for  the  great  work  he  was 
being  divinely  chosen  to  accomplish.  Hour  by  hour  and 
day  by  day  he  was  being  taught  the  great  lessons  he 
must  learn  before  he  could  reach  the  place  where  he 


ENGAGES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORK  75 

could  count  on  results  almost  with  the  precision  of 
mathematics,  as  he  does  to-day. 

While  with  Dr.  Chapman  Sunday  assisted  in  meetings 
in  Paris,  III,  Peoria,  111.,  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  Evansville, 
Ind.,  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Richmond,  Ind.,  Oskaloosa, 
Iowa,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  Gault,  Can.,  and  Huntingdon,  Pa. 

An  Evansville  paper  had  this  to  say  of  the  opening 
of  the  meeting  there  by  Mr.  Sunday : 

"  Evans  Hall  was  packed  full  last  night  with  an  ex- 
pectant audience,  ready  to  see  the  result  of  the  first  of 
the  Chapman  meetings,  which  are  now  upon  us.  A  choir 
of  two  hundred  voices  occupied  seats  upon  the  platform, 
and  gave  a  song  service,  while  on  an  extension  platform 
in  front  were  seated  the  city  pastors  and  Mr.  Sunday, 
who  was  the  speaker  of  the  evening. 

"  In  his  unconventional  and  original  way  of  putting 
things  he  is  unreportable.  He  goes  straight  to  the  point 
in  a  most  practical  way  that  is  all  his  own,  bringing  out 
his  points  with  telling  illustrations,  and  clinching  them 
with  original  sayings  that  keep  you  from  forgetting. 

"  '  The  Bible  is  a  commonsense  Book/  he  said,  '  for  it 
shows  man  where  he  stands.  The  fact  that  there  is  joy 
in  heaven  over  a  repentant  sinner  shows  that  it  must 
be  an  awful  thing  to  be  lost.  It  also  shows  that  heaven 
takes  an  interest  in  men,  and  there  is  great  joy  there 
whenever  a  sinner  is  saved,  because  they  know  how 
great  his  peril  has  been.* 

"  He  closed  with  an  earnest  prayer,  and  then  while  the 
Christians  stood  with  bowed  heads,  he  invited  those  who 
wanted  to  be,  to  raise  their  hands.  In  response  to  this, 
hands  were  lifted  all  over  the  house,  and  an  after  meet- 
ing was  held." 

A  local  paper  had  this  to  say  of  the  meeting  at  Paris, 
111. : 


76  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

'  The  services  at  the  Christian  Church  yesterday  morn- 
ing, and  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  afternoon, 
were  well  attended.  Mr.  Sunday  was  the  leader  at  both 
places.  It  is  evident  that  his  baseball  energy  has  been 
transferred  to  his  new  calling,  for  he  is  so  much  in 
earnest  that  his  vitality  shows  in  every  sentence. 

''  About  eighteen  hundred  people  came  to  the  tent 
last  night  expecting  to  hear  Dr.  Chapman,  but  a  wreck 
on  the  Vandalia  delayed  his  arrival  until  after  nine 
o'clock.  Meantime  his  helper,  Mr.  Sunday,  took  charge 
of  the  service  and  held  the  fort.  He  had  the  attention 
of  everybody,  and  at  once  demonstrated  that  he  was 
I  quite  as  efficient  with  the  Bible  as  with  the  bat.  He 
based  what  he  had  to  say  on  the  story  of  the  rich  young 
man,  as  given  in  Mark  lo:  17-22.  He  had  come  running 
to  Jesus,  and  kneeling  before  him,  said :  '  What  shall 
I  do,  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life  ? '  and  then  went 
sadly  away,  when  his  question  was  answered  in  such  an 
\   unexpected  way. 

" '  We  never  know  what  a  man  is  worth/  said  Mr. 
Sunday,  '  until  after  he  has  been  tested.  Those  who 
have  most  of  self-confidence  are  often  the  first  to  break 
down,  as  this  young  fellow  did.  The  test  proves  the  real 
strength  of  a  man,  for  no  man  is  any  stronger  than  he 
is  at  his  weakest  point.  There  was  nothing  unreasonable 
about  what  was  required  of  this  rich  young  man.  God 
goes  halvers  on  nothing,  but  demands  all. 

*'  *  No  girl  would  be  willing  to  marry  a  young  man 
who  would  only  promise  to  give  her  a  little  of  his  love. 
She  must  have  it  all,  and  so  it  is  with  God.  He  must 
be  loved  with  the  whole  heart.  With  an  undivided  heart, 
and  right  there  is  where  the  young  moneybags  in  the 
lesson  fell  down.  He  cared  more  for  his  ducats  than 
he  did  for  Christ,  and  that  is  what  lost  him  his  soul. 


MRS.    W.    A.    SUNDAY. 


ENGAGES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORK  77 

God  has  every  right  to  demand  our  very  best.  It  would 
have  been  no  harder  for  the  young  man  to  give  up  all 
he  had  than  for  Abraham  to  give  up  his  friends,  his 
home  and  his  native  land.  Peter  left  his  boat  and  fishing 
nets — all  he  had — to  follow  Christ,  and  every  Christian 
worth  his  salt  does  the  same,  and  so  must  you  and  I. 

"  *  Matthew  left  his  place  of  business  as  a  tax  collector 
to  follow  Jesus,  and  he  didn't  have  to  be  told  the  second 
time.  All  the  disciples  gave  up  their  business,  their 
homes — everything — to  follow  the  Master.  There  v/ere 
no  regrets,  and  they  made  no  excuses.  Even  Christ  gave 
up  his  place  in  heaven,  and  all  the  glory  he  had  there, 
to  suffer  for  our  sakes,  and  certainly  we  should  not  hesi- 
tate to  give  up  everything  for  him. 

*' '  The  thing  that  wrecked  the  young  man  was  his 
unwillingness  to  surrender  the  thing  that  held  him  to 
the  earth.  He  wanted  to  go  to  heaven,  but  didn't  want 
to  give  up  the  world,  and  this,  I  fear,  is  just  as  true  of 
some  of  you.  It  is  a  noble  thing  to  seek  to  know  God's 
will,  as  this  young  man  did,  but  an  awful  sin  to  refuse 
to  obey  it.' " 

One  day  when  Sunday  was  at  home  between  meetings, 
his  little  daughter  Helen,  who  had  but  recently  com- 
menced going  to  school,  said  to  him : 

*'  Papa,  let's  go  to  bed  and  tell  stories." 

*'  I  can't  do  it,  Helen,  for  I  have  to  go  away,"  said  he. 

"Where  are  you  going  to,  papa?" 

"  Well,  I've  got  to  go  to  Urbana,  Ohio,  and  then  to 
Troy,  and  then  to  Evansville,  and  after  that  to  Rich- 
mond, and  then  to  Indianapolis." 

''  Papa,  you're  the  best  friend  I've  got,  and  I 
don't  want  you  to  go  away.  Let's  go  to  bed  and  tell 
stories." 

"  But  I  must  go  away,  my  dear,  and  if  you  will  be  a 


78  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

nice  little  girl  and  not  cry,  I  will  get  yow  a  present,''  her 
father  said,  trying  to  console  her. 

''  Will  you  get  me  a  ring  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I'll  get  you  a  ring." 

^'With  a  set  in  it?" 

"  Yes,  I'll  get  you  a  ring  with  a  little  blue  set  in  it." 
And  he  did.  He  got  her  a  very  pretty  ring  with  a  little 
turquoise  set. 

"  But  maybe  I'd  like  to  have  a  new  dress,  papa." 

"  All  right.  You  shall  have  a  new  dress.  What  kind 
of  a  dress  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  I  believe  I  would  like  to  have  a  dress  with  some  blue 
in  it." 

"  All  right.  You  shall  have  it ;  if  you  will  be  a  good 
girl,  and  not  cry." 

And  he  afterward  did  that  very  thing.  He  went  to 
Carson,  Pierie  &  Scott's,  and  got  her  a  very  pretty  silk 
dress  with  a  blue  stripe  in  it,  that  made  her  dance  with 
delight  when  she  saw  it.  She  wore  it  for  a  long  time, 
and  then  gave  it  to  a  poor  little  girl,  who  wore  it  till 
it  looked  like  a  battleflag. 

But  as  soon  as  she  had  her  father's  promise  for  the 
ring  and  the  dress,  little  Helen  looked  very  sober  and 
said  : 

"  Papa,  I  don't  want  a  ring ;  I  don't  want  a  dress.  I 
just  want  you.  You're  the  best  friend  I've  got.  Stay 
at  home  with  me,  papa,  and  I  won't  never  v/ant  any- 
thing but  you ! " 

"  And  that  is  the  way  it  should  be  with  the  Christian," 
says  Mr.  Sunday,  when  he  tells  this  touching  incident. 
"  The  greatest  desire  of  our  hearts  should  be  for  a  con- 
stant sense  of  the  presence  of  Him  whom  having  not  seen 
we  love." 


VIII 

BEGINNING  OF  SUNDAY'S  EVANGELISTIC 

CAREER 

SUNDAY  continued  with  Dr.  Chapman  for  three 
years,  and  then,  during  the  hoUdays  of  1895-6,  Dr. 
C.  wired  that  he  had  agreed  to  return  to  the  pas- 
torate of  his  old  church  in  Philadelphia.  Almost  the 
same  day  that  he  received  this  message,  he  also  received 
a  telegram  from  a  little  town  in  Iowa  named  Garner, 
asking  him  to  conduct  a  ten  days'  meeting  there.  Sun- 
day has  never  been  able  to  learn  what  prompted  the 
call  from  Garner.  He  didn't  know  anybody  there,  and 
does  not  think  any  one  living  there  had  ever  heard  him 
preach.  The  call  coming  so  opportunely,  however,  satis- 
fied him  that  it  was  of  the  Lord,  and  he  wired  his 
acceptance. 

At  that  time  he  had  never  held  a  meeting  alone,  and 
only  had  eight  sermons,  which  would  in  some  way  have 
to  be  extended  to  ten.  At  that  time  there  were  two  little 
children  at  home  to  be  cared  for,  Helen  and  George,  and 
it  required  a  good  deal  of  courage  to  swing  out  alone. 
But  Sunday  hurried  out  to  Garner,  and  held  a  good 
meeting  in  the  little  opera  house.  He  had  no  singer 
with  him,  and  the  choir  numbered  only  twenty.  On  the 
last  day  of  the  meeting  they  took  up  a  collection  for 
him  which  footed  up  sixty-eight  dollars.  Two  churches 
had  united  in  that  meeting. 

From  that  day  to  this  Sunday  has  never  in  all  his 

79 


80  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

evangelistic  career  lacked  a  call  for  a  meeting.  Imme- 
diately following  the  meeting  at  Garner  came  others  at 
Sigourney,  Iowa,  and  Pawnee  City,  Neb. 

From  his  experience  in  so  many  meetings  with  Dr. 
Chapman  Sunday  derived  great  benefit.  There  was  no 
single  detail  in  a  series  of  special  meetings  with  which 
his  recent  experiences  had  not  made  him  familiar,  and 
whatever  came  up  he  mastered  so  thoroughly  that  he 
grasped  the  meaning  of  other  parts  of  the  work.  To 
this  clear  and  practical  knowledge  of  the  requirements 
of  each  department  is  to  be  traced  the  ease  and  precision 
with  which  he  to-day  directs  the  multiplied  activities  of 
a  great  religious  campaign.  Many  who  come  in  contact 
with  the  executive  side  of  a  Sunday  evangelistic  move- 
ment are  startled  at  its  complexity,  yet  marvel  at  the 
smoothness  with  which  it  operates. 

For  some  time  after  going  to  Garner,  the  meetings 
held  by  Sunday  were  in  small  towns,  beginning  generally 
in  the  largest  church  building,  and  then  when  the  interest 
outgrew  it,  going  to  the  opera  house  or  largest  hall. 
Many  of  the  first  calls  received  were  from  Iowa,  the 
state  in  which  he  was  born. 

Though  the  work  grew  gradually,  it  increased  steadily, 
and  this  it  has  continued  to  do  up  to  the  present  time. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  Sunday  meetings  in 
various  places  were  definitely  fixed  months  in  advance. 
At  the  present  time  meetings  are  arranged  for 
two  years  in  advance  regularly,  and  occasionally  more 
than  that.  The  date  for  a  campaign  in  Steubenville, 
Ohio,  had  been  set  three  years  in  advance.  The  calls 
for  meetings  are  now  so  many  that  a  large  number  must 
of  necessity  be  declined,  and  the  evangelist  has  no  task 
more  trying  than  the  arrangement  of  his  schedule  of 
future  engagements. 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         81 

From  the  very  beginning,  Sunday  has  insisted  that  the 
churches  of  the  community  should  unite  before  he  would 
agree  to  conduct  a  campaign.  He  has  held  that  unless 
the  forces  for  good  were  united  little  progress  could  be 
made  against  the  work  of  the  devil. 

As  the  work  grew  it  served  to  draw  the  Protestant 
churches  in  various  communities  into  closer  fellowship. 
To  secure  this  agreement  on  the  part  of  all  the  churches 
to  give  up  their  regular  services  during  the  meetings 
and  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  was  not  in  every  case 
easy  to  do,  but  the  wisdom  of  it  has  been  clearly  shown 
in  every  instance.  Three  hundred  churches  united  for 
the  campaign  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.  Eight  hundred  churches 
united  in  extending  a  call  to  Mr.  Sunday  for  a  campaign 
in  Philadelphia. 

Sunday  has  always  opposed  the  showing  up  of  results 
in  figures,  or  any  attempt  at  a  statistical  summary  of 
his  years  of  evangelism,  but  a  comparison  can  be  made 
of  one  feature  of  the  meeting  in  Garner,  and  another  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  in  191 3.  When  Sunday  went  to 
Garner  for  his  first  meeting  he  had  eight  sermons  only 
at  his  command.  At  Columbus  he  preached  ninety-three 
in  the  tabernacle,  taking  no  account  of  the  special  talks 
and  addresses  given  in  dozens  of  other  places  during  the 
meeting. 

Early  in  his  evangelistic  work  Sunday  employed  a 
singer,  and  from  that  time  on  the  music  has  always 
been  a  prominent  feature  of  the  tabernacle  services. 

In  view  of  the  great  work  Sunday  has  accomplished, 
the  comments  on  his  early  meetings,  published  in  the 
local  papers,  are  most  interesting.  Here  is  one  concern- 
ing a  meeting  held  at  Dunlap,  Iowa : 

*'  Scores  have  heard  the  message  as  never  before,  and 
have  set  out  to  lead  Christian  lives.    Never  in  the  history^ 


r 


82  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

of  Dunlap  has  there  been  such  a  spiritual  awakening 
among  the  people.  The  result  is  not  only  seen  in  the 
revival  meetings,  but  it  has  reached  the  Sunday  schools 
and  Young  People's  meetings,  where  the  attendance  has 
been  greatly  increased.  Also  offices,  homes  and  places 
of  business,  where  profanity  has  been  smothered  and 
prayers  are  heard.  Dancing  and  card  playing  are  no 
longer  treated  as  trivial  affairs,  and  good  morals  and 
right  living  are  now  matters  of  public  concern. 

"  Mr.  Sunday  leaves  town  to-day,  but  his  influence 
will  remain  for  years  to  come.  No  one  can  measure  its 
magnitude.  Who  can  say  how  much  trouble  and  grief 
have  been  averted  by  his  coming?  He  will  ever  hold 
a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  our  people,  who  will  wish 
him  Godspeed  in  the  w^ork  before  him.  The  editor  of 
the  Missouri  Valley  News,  who  spent  Sunday  here,  has 
this  to  say  of  the  meeting : 

"  '  We  have  heard  of  revivals  in  which  the  entire  com- 
munity was  stirred  as  one  man,  but  never  before  wit- 
nessed such  a  Pentecost  as  that  of  yesterday.  Mr. 
Sunday  is  a  yoimg  man,  of  near  thirty-five,  a  perfect 
specimen  of  healthy,  vigorous  manhood.  Since  we  taught 
him  in  his  youth,  he  has  been  an  impetuous,  vigorous 
advocate  of  whatever  he  believed,  and  this  spirit  char- 
acterizes all  his  work  as  an  evangelist.  So  great  is  his 
endurance  that  he  can  preach  three  times  a  day  through 
an  entire  series  of  meetings,  hold  several  specials,  make 
personal  calls,  talk  with  seekers,  and  show  no  trace  of 
fatigue.  He  looks  on  his  work  as  being  divinely  directed. 
He  said  in  his  sermon  yesterday,  with  an  earnestness 
no  one  could  doubt,  that  he  expected  to  continue  his 
labors  until  Gabriel  sounded  his  trumpet  from  the  sky. 

"  *  His  first  work  in  any  town  is  to  revive  the  pro- 
fessors of  religion;  then  he  makes  every  one  of  them 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         83 

an  evangelist  for  the  time  being.  He  has  a  trained 
chorister,  who  trains  a  large  local  choir  and  leads  the 
singing.  Every  meeting  begins  with  a  song  service." ^ 
Then  follows  one  of  his  characteristic  sermons,  full  of 
fiery,  forcible  facts,  quaint  with  homely,  convincing  and 
illuminative  illustrations.  Then  a  prayer  service.  Then 
a  call  for  seekers  to  rise  or  raise  their  hands.  Then  the 
personal  workers  go  out  into  the  audience  and  invite 
those  interested  to  go  forward,  and  meantime  the  choir 
is  singing  appropriate  gospel  songs.  There  is  tumult  in 
all  this,  yet  a  serious,  earnest  spirit  that  is  most  im- 
pressive fills  the  place. 

*' '  The  meeting  last  night  was  of  this  order.  Following 
the  regular  service,  the  after  meeting  was  more  like  a 
jubilee  or  community  praise  meeting.  The  people  sang 
as  if  inspired.  The  invitation  brought  forward  old  and 
young,  from  all  classes,  and  frequently,  as  some  well- 
known  citizen  would  go  forward,  a  shout  of  glad  joy 
would  break  forth  from  the  congregation;  then  others 
would  go  forward  until  the  altar  space  was  filled. 
Around  that  altar  families  were  united,  enmities  were 
forgotten,  and  as  the  throng  sang,  "  When  the  roll  is 
called  up  yonder,  I'll  be  there !  "  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
more  remained  but  for  the  people  to  go  on  their  way 
rejoicing;  but  there  they  stayed,  and  sang  on.  For  over 
an  hour  the  people  filed  past  the  newly  blessed,  giving 
greeting  and  good  cheer.  In  perfect  order  the  work 
went  on,  songs  breaking  out  at  intervals,  as  if  the  hearts 
of  the  multitude  could  not  contain  their  joy/  " 

Another  of  those  early  meetings  was  held  at  Emerson, 
Iowa,  and  here  are  some  of  the  things  the  local  paper 
had  to  say  about  it : 

"  Over  a  hundred  were  converted  during  the  three 
weeks'  meeting,  and  our  little  town  has  never  witnessed 


84-  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

such  a  transformation  in  its  history.  Mr.  Sunday  was 
listened  to  every  night  by  an  audience  that  packed  the 
opera  house  to  its  utmost  capacity  at  every  service. 
Many  a  calloused  and  wicked  heart  has  been  changed, 
and  many  homes  have  been  made  happy.  Prayer  and 
Bible-study  meetings  have  been  organized,  and  are  doing 
much  good  in  encouraging  and  assisting  the  young  Chris- 
tians. The  evangelist's  power  in  holding  the  close  atten- 
tion of  his  audience  all  the  way  through  is  wonderful, 
and  his  resources  seem  to  be  boundless.  His  vivid  im- 
agination, irresistible  humor  and  untiring  earnestness 
make  him  an  unusually  interesting  and  most  effective 
preacher. 

"  When  Sunday  went  to  take  the  train  to  leave  us,  it 
looked  as  if  nearly  all  the  town  went  to  the  depot  to  see 
him  off.  His  hand  was  shaken  by  everybody  w^ho  could 
get  to  him,  and  as  the  train  started,  hands  and  handker- 
chiefs were  waved  and  gospel  songs  sung  as  long  as  the 
train  could  be  seen.  He  will  begin  his  next  meeting  at 
Malvern  next  Sunday,  to  which  place  the  prayers  of  all 
Emerson  will  follow  him,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
many  will  go  and  lend  a  helping  hand  some  time  during 
his  stay  there." 

The  meeting  at  Malvern  also  continued  three  weeks, 
and  was  in  every  way  a  most  successful  one.  In  Sun- 
day's early  meetings  the  length  of  time  covered  by  each 
was  not  over  three  weeks,  for  in  those  days  his  stock 
of  sermons  was  by  that  time  about  used  up,  and  yet 
the  results  secured  in  that  brief  time  were  generall}^  most 
remarkable. 

The  Malvern  paper  had  this  to  say  of  the  meeting : 

"  Many  misgivings  and  doubts  were  expressed  by 
Christian  people  as  to  the  expediency  of  having  Mr.  Sun- 
day come  here,  based  upon  distorted  and  malicious  re- 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         85 

ports  as  to  his  manner  and  methods.  Practically  all  these 
prejudices  had  vanished  before  he  had  been  here  a  week, 
and  we  do  not  believe  he  left  the  town  bearing  the  ill 
will  of  a  single  person.  From  the  start,  almost,  there 
was  a  general  rallying  of  the  church  people  about  him,, 
and  as  he  fearlessly,  yet  lovingly  proclaimed  the  plain 
truths  of  the  gospel,  the  hearts  of  old  and  young  were 
touched,  and  the  desire  for  a  higher  and  purer  plane 
of  living  became  general.  During  the  meeting  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  began  a  Christian  life.  There  must  have 
been  fully  a  thousand  people  present  at  the  closing 
service  Sunday  evening,  and  there  were  many  others 
who  could  not  squeeze  into  the  church.  The  generous 
free-will  offering  of  our  people  to  Mr.  Sunday  footed 
up  $675. 

"  This  three  weeks'  series  of  meetings  has  been  a  mar- 
velous one.  In  most  respects,  the  most  remarkable  ever 
held  in  Mills  county.  The  attendance  during  the  entire 
three  weeks,  in  spite  of  unpropitious  weather,  has  been 
phenomenal.  The  meetings  were  held  in  the  Baptist 
Church,  which  will  accommodate  about  a  thousand  peo- 
ple, and  it  was  filled  every  night  to  overflowing.  There 
has  been  a  remarkable  improvement  in  Sunday's  delivery, 
language  and  entire  style  of  address  since  we  heard  him 
about  three  years  ago.  We  are  no  prophet,  but  we 
predict  it  will  be  only  a  question  of  time  when  he  will 
take  rank  with  the  greatest  evangelists  in  the  country." 
Here  are  a  few  lines  from  a  Humboldt  paper : 
"  Mr.  Sunday  is  a  hearty,  healthy  and  happy  Christian. 
He  laughs  and  chats  and  enjoys  the  beauties  of  nature 
just  as  any  other  mortal.  He  likes  to  see  people  happy. 
He  likes  to  point  out  to  them  that  there  can  be  no  real 
happiness  here  or  hereafter  without  doing  right.  He 
wins  men  to  the  kingdom  of  God  by  getting  them  to  see 


86  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

that  there  can  be  no  safety  in  any  condition  where  the 
conduct  and  life  are  displeasing  to  God.  When  he 
preaches  he  preaches  with  all  his  might,  and  he  preaches 
plainly.  He  calls  a  spade  a  spade,  and  when  he  de- 
nounces sin  he  does  it  in  italics.  His  manner  is  magnetic, 
and  his  smile  so  winsome  that  the  heart  of  a  misanthrope 
would  go  out  toward  him.  When  he  reaches  out  to  shake 
hands,  and  gives  that  firm,  hearty  grip,  it  is  time  to 
surrender.  Talk  with  him  five  minutes,  and  you  will 
feel  that  he  is  an  old  friend.  He  carries  his  baseball  suit 
with  him,  and  plays  a  game  now  and  then  to  keep  his 
hand  in.  There  is  none  of  the  puffed-up  Pharisee  about 
him,  and  that  is  why  he  is  so  well  liked  by  those  to  whom 
he  preaches." 

The  following  is  taken  from  a  Sibley,  Iowa,  paper : 
''  The  revival  meetings  which  have  been  held  here  for 
three  weeks  under  the  direction  of  W.  A.  Sunday,  closed 
on  Sunday  evening  with  the  largest  congregation  ever 
assembled  under  one  roof  here.  To  say  that  Sibley  has 
been  stirred  to  its  foundation  is  putting  it  mildly.  Such 
a  religious  awakening  has  never  been  known  in  this  sec- 
tion, and  its  having  been  attended  with  so  little  of  the 
unusual  religious  excitement  augurs  well  for  the  proba- 
ble permanency  of  its  results.  There  was  a  good  deal 
of  prejudice  and  criticism  at  first,  but  this  soon  disap- 
peared as  the  meeting  progressed,  for  no  one  could  listen 
to  Sunday's  earnest  preaching  from  night  to  night  and 
long  doubt  his  sincerity.  He  preached  the  truth  so  forci- 
bly and  clearly  that  it  was  soon  known  to  be  the  truth, 
and  produced  deep-seated  conviction.  Every  night  the 
seekers  were  many,  and  during  the  meeting  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  made  a  start." 

A  paper  at  Tabor,  Iowa,  says  this  and  much  more  of 
a  meeting  Sunday  held  there: 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         87 

"  There  is  no  putting  an  estimate  upon  the  great  good 
done  by  the  meeting  here.  While  there  are  a  few  who 
do  not  like  Mr.  Sunday's  outspoken  style,  no  one  can 
deny  that  he  stirred  things  up  in  Tabor  as  it  was  never 
done  before,  and  that  the  community  is  vastly  better 
for  his  having  been  with  us/' 

From  Tabor,  Sunday  went  to  Tecumseh,  Neb.,  and  the 
local  paper  there  had  this  to  say : 

"  The  union  revival  meetings  under  the  direction  of 
W.  A.  Sunday  have  continued  during  the  past  week 
with  constantly  growing  interest.  At  night  the  Presby- 
terian Church  is  packed  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The 
aisles  are  filled  with  chairs,  every  available  foot  of  space 
is  occupied,  and  standing  room  is  at  a  premium.  The 
afternoon  meetings  are  also  largely  attended,  but  the 
great  press  is  at  night. 

"  The  church  people  have  already  been  aroused  as  never 
before,  and  many  of  them  are  just  beginning  to  find  out 
what  it  means  to  be  a  Christian.  This  sounds  strange, 
but  it  is  true.  The  meetings  are  also  having  a  very  posi- 
tive and  visible  effect  upon  many  who  have  never  been 
affiliated  with  the  church.  Mr.  Sunday  is  a  plain  speaker. 
He  probes  under  the  mask  of  worldliness  and  touches 
many  a  sore  spot  that  the  owner  tries  to  be  indifferent 
about,  but  Sunday  keeps  on  probing  until  something  has 
to  be  done,  and  that  is  why  some  folks  do  not  like  him. 
The  truth  is  a  powerful  weapon  in  his  hands,  and  he 
uses  it  with  great  skill." 

Of  a  meeting  at  Savanna,  111.,  the  local  paper  said : 

"  That  much  good  has  resulted  is  plain  to  be  seen. 
The  churches  have  been  greatly  revived.  A  spirit  of 
unity  now  exists  that  was  not  known  before.  About  two 
hundred  have  entered  upon  a  Christian  life.  Many 
homes  have  been  gladdened.     The  ministers  can  now 


88  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

take  up  their  everyday  work,  feeling  that  the  cause  is 
dearer  than  ever,  and  that  their  churches  are  in  a  much 
better  spiritual  condition.  The  full  result  of  Sunday's 
labors  here  has  not  yet  come  in.  He  has  done  excellent 
work,  and  his  coming  has  brought  about  a  state  of 
activity  in  religious  circles  that  will  last.  That  the  people 
appreciated  the  meetings  was  shown  by  the  crowded 
houses  every  night.'' 

This  is  the  way  he  took  hold  of  the  little  town  of 
Elliott,  the  scene  of  one  of  his  earliest  meetings  in  Iowa : 

"  He  is  a  great  power  for  God,  and  his  preaching  is 
stirring  the  country  for  many  miles  around  us.  His  con- 
gregations are  sometimes  greater  than  the  population  of 
the  town.  This  shows  something  of  what  is  being  done : 
Wednesday  morning  the  north-bound  train  brought 
thirty-five  cases  of  liquor  to  Elliott,  but  the  south-bound 
train  carried  the  stuff  all  back  again.  Sunday  comes  out 
strong  against  the  liquor  business,  and  hits  it  hard,  and 
hits  it  where  it  lives." 

A  New  Hampton,  Iowa,  paper  gave  this  picture  of 
Sunday  in  a  meeting : 

''  He  does  not  look  like  a  preacher.  He  would  more 
likely  be  taken  for  a  speculator  on  the  stock  exchange,  or 
a  prematurely  old  young  business  man.  But  when  he 
gets  his  sails  set,  and  launches  out  into  his  sermon,  you 
stop  thinking  about  the  man,  and  have  to  think  of  what 
he  is  saying,  and  when  he  is  through  you  know  you  have 
been  listening  to  a  genius  divinely  crowned.  Last  night 
he  talked  for  an  hour  and  a  half  without  apparent  fa- 
tigue, and  held  the  enthralled  attention  of  the  vast  audi- 
ence every  moment.  He  may  not  suit  the  ultra  religionist, 
but  he  is  getting  hold  of  the  people  in  a  wonderful  way." 

The  newspaper  reports  of  a  meeting  held  in  south- 
western Iowa,  at  Bedford,  the  county  seat  of  Taylor 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         89 

County,  fairly  show  the  manner  in  which  a  great  wave  of 
revival  would  sweep  over  a  community  in  a  Sunday  cam- 
paign. Bedford  at  that  time  was  a  typical  western  town 
of  about  two  thousand  people,  and  the  churches  were 
in  anything  but  a  strong  spiritual  condition.  The  meet- 
ings continued  the  usual  three  weeks,  during  which  there 
were  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  conversions,  and  at 
the  close  the  free  will  offering  to  the  evangelist  aggre- 
gated $968.38,  the  largest  he  had  ever  received.  One  of 
the  Bedford  papers  contained  this  account  : 

*'  Never  has  Bedford  witnessed  such  a  religious  awak- 
ening as  is  now  in  progress  at  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  church  of  God  is  being  shaken  to  its  very  founda- 
tion, and  many  are  anxiously  inquiring,  '  What  must  I 
do  to  be  saved  ?  '  For  nearly  a  week  Evangelist  Sunday 
has  been  holding  great  audiences  spellbound  by  the  ear- 
nest preaching  of  Christ  and  him  crucified.  He  has  a 
most  forcible  manner  all  his  own,  that  at  once  commands 
attention  and  holds  it  to  the  end.  He  is  no  more  back- 
ward in  telling  church  members  their  shortcomings  than 
he  is  in  commending  their  virtues.  He  makes  no  com- 
promise with  the  world,  the  flesh  or  the  devil,  and  sends 
plenty  of  hot  shot  into  the  ranks  of  the  sinners.  He 
strikes  at  everything  that  bears  the  stamp  of  sin  with 
fearlessness  and  impartiality." 

A  little  later  this  was  said  of  the  meeting: 
''  Last  night  ushers  brought  chairs  and  filled  the  aisles, 
for  the  people  poured  in  long  before  the  hour  of  service." 
And  then  two  or  three  days  further  along :  ''  Again  the 
church  was  crow^ded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  not  less  than 
thirteen  or  fourteen  hundred  being  in  attendance.  Al- 
ready one  hundred  and  sixty  have  gone  forward  and 
taken  a  stand  for  Christ."  And  still  later :  "  Never  in 
the  religious  history  of  this  community  have  there  been 


90  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

such  meetings  as  were  those  of  yesterday.  The  people 
poured  out  to  the  morning  meeting  and  filled  the  church. 
In  the  afternoon  the  place  was  packed  with  men,  making 
the  largest  audience  of  men  ever  assembled  in  the  county 
at  a  religious  meeting.  Some  of  them  drove  fifteen  miles. 
Sunday  poured  hot  shot  into  the  sins  of  the  day.  As  he 
warmed  up  off  came  his  collar,  then  his  coat,  and  for 
an  hour  and  a  quarter  he  dealt  sledge-hammer  blows  for 
righteousness.  Several  times  the  men  burst  out  in  ap- 
plause that  shook  the  church.  They  cried  and  laughed 
by  turns. 

"  In  the  evening  people  began  pouring  in  at  five-thirty ; 
women  leading  children  by  the  hand;  young  men  and 
maidens,  and  old  men  leaning  on  their  canes — everybody. 
Commodious  as  the  church  is,  it  needed  to  be  as  large 
again  to  accommodate  all  who  sought  seats.  The  doors 
were  besieged  by  hundreds,  but  there  was  a  blockade. 
The  crush  was  so  great  that  at  times  there  was  no  moving 
either  backward  or  forward.  Seats  were  placed  in  the 
aisles,  and  hundreds  stood  around  the  walls  and  by  the 
doors.    The  platform  was  thronged. 

"  The  religious  interest  is  becoming  deeper  every  day. 
People  cannot  stay  away.  As  a  result,  the  name  of  God 
is  being  revered  more  than  ever  before  in  this  com- 
munity. Never  did  such  crowds  assemble  to  hear  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  The  church  is  all  too  small  to 
accommodate  the  vast  throngs  that  seek  admission,  and 
many  are  the  disappointed  ones  who  are  turned  away. 
More  than  two  hundred  have  so  far  been  converted,  and 
still  they  come.  The  church  is  packed  long  before  the 
time  for  beginning  a  meeting,  and  some  people  are  now 
driving  twenty  miles  to  get  here. 

"  Yesterday  was  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  in  Bed- 
ford.   Cottage  prayer  meetings  are  being  held  in  several 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER  91 

sections  every  morning,  and  a  deep  religious  fervor  pre- 
vails among  the  people.  The  attendance  at  the  church 
is  over  thirteen  hundred  every  night,  and  many  are  turned 
away.  (Population  of  town  at  that  time,  2,000.)  The 
afternoon  services  are  largely  attended  and  are  having 
splendid  results. 

*'  The  capacity  of  the  church  was  overtaxed  again  last 
night.  People  began  pouring  in  at  five-thirty,  and  at 
six-thirty  standing  room  was  at  a  premium.  Many  who 
came  in  the  afternoon  remained  to  be  sure  of  seats  for 
the  night  meeting.  These  union  meetings  have  been  a 
great  thing  for  the  churches  and  for  the  whole  com- 
munity. It  has  been  shown  that  great  things  can  be 
done  when  people  work  together.  The  bringing  together 
of  the  membership  of  the  different  churches  in  the  great 
gatherings  has  brought  people  in  touch  with  each  other 
who  have  not  before  labored  together  in  church  work, 
and  by  so  doing  has  created  a  bond  of  sym.pathy  and 
unity  of  feeling  and  purpose  which  is  certain  to  result 
in  much  permanent  good. 

"  All  through  the  m^eetings  there  has  not  been  the 
slightest  hitch,  but  all  have  pulled  together  v/ithout  the 
least  jealousy.  We  believe  it  would  be  to  the  interest 
of  all  the  churches  to  continue  to  have  union  meetings 
occasionally,  to  keep  up  the  present  fine  feeling  of 
fraternity. 

"  Last  Sunday  night  the  union  revival  services  closed 
at  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  the  unanimous  opin- 
ion of  all  that  the  last  was  the  best,  and  that  means  a 
good  deal.  On  that  night  fifty  persons  went  forward 
and  declared  themselves  for  Christ.  Among  the  number 
were  some  of  our  leading  business  men,  county  officials 
and  prominent  farmers,  young  and  old.  Added  to  those 
previously  converted,  it  brought  the  total  number  up  to 


92  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

three  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  who  to-day  are  rejoicing 
in  a  new  life. 

"  The  vast  amount  of  good  that  has  been  accomplished 
in  Bedford  and  surrounding  country  in  the  last  twenty- 
three  days  seems  almost  incredible.  Never  before  in  the 
history  of  Taylor  county  has  there  been  such  a  revival. 
Men's  hearts  were  never  touched  as  they  have  been 
during  the  meeting  just  closed. 

"  Mr.  Sunday  came  to  us  a  stranger,  but  has  left 
behind  him  thousands  of  warm,  admiring  friends.  He 
made  no  charge  for  his  services,  but  they  were  appreci- 
ated, and  the  people  gave  him  a  free  will  offering  on 
the  last  day.  He  was  overcome  by  the  good  will  and 
generosity  of  the  people,  and  could  not  find  words  to 
express  his  high  appreciation. 

"  We  believe  the  good  accomplished  has  only  just 
begun,  and  no  one  can  tell  where  it  will  ever  stop.  Like 
the  ripple  set  in  motion  by  the  casting  of  a  pebble  into 
the  water,  it  will  go  on  and  on,  expanding  and  enlarging 
into  ever-widening  circles  of  influence  for  good. 

'*  There  was  an  overflow  meeting  at  the  depot,  to  bid 
Mr.  Sunday  and  his  party  farewell  and  Godspeed.  More 
than  two  hundred  people  were  there  to  say  a  last  good-by, 
and  while  waiting  for  the  train  all  joined  heartily  in 
singing  some  of  the  gospel  hymns  that  had  become  so 
familiar  and  precious  to  those  who  attended  the  services. 
The  spectacle  was  indeed  an  inspiring  one,  and  must 
have  cheered  those  consecrated  people,  as  they  set  out 
on  their  way  to  other  fields  of  labor.  As  the  train  went 
on  its  way,  handkerchiefs  and  hats  were  waved  at  the 
little  group  standing  on  the  rear  platform  until  it  was 
lost  to  sight. 

**  Aside  from  the  direct  results  of  the  meeting,  it  is 
already  beginning  to  bear  fruit  in  ways  that  will  be 


BEGINS  EVANGELISTIC  CAREER         93 

permanent.  Young  men  are  beginning  to  work  for  the 
organization  of  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
Young  women,  too,  are  asking  for  special  prayer  meet- 
ings to  be  held.  Old  men  and  middle-aged  men  are  ask- 
ing what  they  can  do  to  further  the  cause  of  Christ. 
We  believe  the  good  resulting  from  these  meetings  will 
never  all  be  known  this  side  of  eternity." 


IX 

FROM  TENT  TO  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS 

MR.  SUNDAY  continued  to  hold  meetings  in  the 
smaller  towns  and  villages  with  constantly  in- 
creasing interest.  Each  meeting  was  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  stirring  scenes  of  the  one  before,  with  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  intensity  added.  In  every  place 
the  evangelist  and  his  helpers  were  more  inspired  and 
encouraged  by  the  uniform  and  increasing  results  that 
crowned  their  efforts.  Such  marked  and  constant  suc- 
cess could  not  but  have  a  most  invigorating  effect  upon 
the  faith  of  Mr.  Sunday.  His  faith  had  to  grow,  and 
it  did.  It  could  not  have  been  otherwise.  As  he  found 
his  prayers  being  answered  and  his  efforts  more  and 
more  rewarded,  the  meaning  of  the  promises  was  re- 
vealed to  him  in  a  larger  and  more  definite  sense,  and 
he  found  himself  taking  hold  of  the  Lord  for  greater 
things. 

This  growing  confidence  in  God  on  the  part  of  the 
leader  was  bound  to  have  a  direct  influence  upon  the 
spirit  of  each  meeting,  and  made  more  certain  the  crea- 
tion of  a  revival  atmosphere — without  which  there  can 
be  no  revival,  any  more  than  there  can  be  fire  without 
oxygen.  Sunday's  uniform  success  also  had  a  most 
wholesome  influence  upon  every  community  into  which 
he  went,  for  days,  and  sometimes  weeks,  before  his 
arrival.  The  people  expected  much  because  there  had 
been  no  failure  elsewhere. 

The  evangelist  was  also  steadily  learning  from  ex- 

•       94 


BILLY,      ROY   AND    ED. 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS       95 

periences  in  each  series  of  meetings  how  to  make  more 
efficient  advance  preparation,  and  this  is  just  as  neces- 
sary in  rehgious  movements  of  magnitude  as  in  great 
military  campaigns.  That  Sunday  is  a  great  general  is 
soon  known  by  all  who  have  anything  to  do  with  one 
of  his  meetings.  Had  this  not  been  true  of  him  he  could 
never  have  become  the  great  evangelist  he  is  to-day,  any 
more  than  Moses  could  have  led  Israel  out  of  Egypt 
had  he  not  been  a  great  chieftain. 

In  great  meetings  such  as  Sunday  holds,  nothing  can 
be  left  to  chance.  Great  plans  must  be  made,  and  every 
detail  executed  with  military  precision.  Without  this 
he  would  have  met  his  Waterloo  long  ago.  Careful 
plans  are  made  by  the  prince  of  darkness  to  defeat  every 
one  of  the  meetings,  and  if  Sunday  were  not  a  general 
of  a  high  order,  his  overthrow  would  have  been  rejoiced 
in  by  the  devil  and  his  black  legions  long  ago. 

Sunday  has  a  grasp  of  details  that  seldom  omits  or 
overlooks  any  essential  thing.  He  is  a  veritable  Napo- 
leon in  holy  warfare,  and  is  no  more  questioned  by  his 
lieutenants  in  anything  he  decides  upon  than  the  "  little 
corporal  "  would  have  been  questioned  by  his  field  mar- 
shals. He  also  has  that  other  great  quality  the  eminent 
Corsican  possessed  in  such  an  exalted  degree:  The  abil- 
ity to  quickly  inspire  and  animate  with  his  own  un- 
daunted spirit  those  who  work  with  him.  With  a  word 
and  a  look  from  him,  those  who  have  never  been  known 
to  lift  a  finger  in  religious  work  will  take  hold  and 
strive  like  Trojans  for  the  success  of  the  meeting. 

Sunday's  next  step  toward  the  wide  sphere  of  useful- 
ness he  at  present  occupies  was  the  holding  of  tent  meet- 
ings in  the  summer  time,  and  this,  he  soon  discovered, 
gave  his  meetings  a  wider  sweep  than  before.  The 
novelty  of  the  idea  at  once  arrested  public  attention,  and 


96  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

became  a  great  advertisement.  His  first  tent  meeting" 
was  at  Hawkeye,  a  little  town  in  Iowa.  There  he  not 
only  did  the  preaching  and  looked  after  the  choir,  but 
he  also  had  to  take  care  of  the  tent.  Many  a  night 
when  the  wind  blew,  and  the  storm  beat  upon  the  sway- 
ing canvas,  Billy  would  have  to  jump  out  of  bed  and 
run  to  sit  on  the  guy  ropes,  or  tighten  up  a  support  here 
and  there.  The  first  time  he  had  a  singer  with  him  was 
in  1898,  in  a  meeting  he  held  at  Oneida,  111. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  tent  meetings  there  was 
always  widespread  interest,  and  soon  the  subject  of 
religion  would  be  the  one  topic  of  conversation  above 
all  others  everywhere — in  the  shop,  the  store,  on  the 
street  and  in  the  home.  Wherever  the  people  came 
together  they  would  at  once  begin  to  talk  of  the  meetings. 
They  would  tell  each  other  of  how  fine  and  grand  the 
music  was — above  anything  they  had  ever  known.  And 
then  they  would  fall  to  and  discuss  the  preaching  just 
as  earnestly,  telling  what  there  was  about  it  they  liked, 
and  pointing  out  just  as  frankly  whatever  there  was 
about  it  they  didn't  like. 

Conversions  were  sometimes  brought  about  by  one 
person  repeating  to  another  as  much  of  the  sermon  as 
was  remembered,  and  the  one  who  listened  would  be 
awakened,  and  go  to  praying  for  deliverance  from  his 
sin,  and  this  kind  of  history  is  still  being  repeated,  on 
a  constantly  increasing  scale,  wherever  the  Sunday  meet- 
ings are  held.  Every  man  and  woman  who  attended 
one  of  the  meetings  would  at  once  begin  to  tell  every  one 
they  met  how  dififerent  the  preaching  was  from  any  they 
had  heard  before.  Not  different  in  doctrine,  or  in  the 
things  preached,  but  in  the  way  the  preaching  was  done. 
For  example,  a  couple  of  farmers  would  meet  at  the 
blacksmith  shop,  and  one  would  say: 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS       97 

*'  See  here,  Jones ;  there  never  was  any  preachin'  done 
jes'  like  that  baseball  man  does  it.  I  tell  you,  John,  he's 
got  more  life  in  him  than  any  two-year-old  colt  you 
ever  sav/.  I  would  never  a-b'lieved  it  if  I  hadn't  a-seen 
it,  that  anybody  could  ever  be  so  much  in  airnest  at 
jes*  preachin'.  He's  got  a  platform  to  stand  on  more'n 
as  big  as  two  wagon  boxes,  an'  he  kivers  every  inch 
of  it  in  every  sermon  he  preaches. 

*'  Why,  in  the  meetin'  last  Sunday  afternoon  he  got 
so  fired  up  that  he  tore  off  both  his  coat  and  vest,  jerked 
off  his  collar  an'  kervat,  an'  then  rolled  up  his  sleeves 
as  if  he  was  a-goin'  to  help  thrash. 

"  My,  how  he  does  wake  folks  up,  an'  keep  'em  on 
the  tenterhooks!  Go  to  sleep?  Well,  I  should  say  not! 
Not  under  the  preachin'  that's  done  in  that  tent.  Why, 
John,  he  pounds  his  p'ints  clear  through  you,  and  makes 
'em  stick  out  on  the  other  side. 

''  I  thought  I'd  been  a-hearin'  ruther  strong  preachin' 
all  my  life,  but  I  never  heard  none  that  took  hold  of 
me  like  hisn  does.  Why,  it  goes  into  you  like  chiggers, 
John,  an'  you  can't  get  away  from  it.  Peeled?  What? 
I  wouldn't  want  Mary  Ellen  to  hear  this,  but  I  want  to 
tell  you  that  every  time  I  go  to  that  tent  I  go  out  of  it 
feelin'  as  mean  as  if  I  had  been  a-stealin'  sheep;  an'  I 
ruther  b'lieve  my  old  woman  ain't  gittin'  off  any  lighter, 
for  all  the  way  home  last  night  she  didn't  have  a  word 
to  say,  an'  you've  been  married  long  enough  to  know, 
John,  that  when  a  woman  is  keepin*  her  tongue  still  it's 
not  because  she  can't  think  of  anything  to  say.  An'  what 
do  you  think  she  said  to  me  this  mornin'?  Why,  that 
she  b'lieved  she'd  drive  old  Tom  to  town  this  afternoon, 
an'  sell  the  butter  an*  go  to  the  day  meetin'. 

"  But  I  most  forgot  to  tell  you  about  the  singin'. 
It's  wonderful,  John,  an'  worth  goin'  miles  an'  miles  to 


98  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

hear.  It  does  beat  all  catnip  the  way  a  hundred  or  so 
notebook  singers  kin  pour  out  the  music.  But  I  must 
be  goin*.  I  see  Jim's  got  them  shoes  on  my  hoss  at  last. 
Bring  all  your  folks  an'  come  over  to  the  meetin'  to-night, 
John." 

Such  scenes  as  the  above  were  repeated  over  and  over 
again,  and  some  of  them  miles  and  miles  from  where  the 
meetings  were  being  held,  and  through  them  the  interest 
was  being  continually  widened  and  deepened. 

The  farmers  were  busy,  of  course,  but  that  made  no 
difference  to  them  when  the  full  tide  was  reached,  for 
they  found  it  easier  to  go  to  the  meetings  then  than  to 
stay  away.  And  so  it  was  with  merchants,  mechanics 
and  business  men  generally.  The  interest  at  the  big 
tent  became  so  great  that  there  was  no  keeping  away, 
and  between  meetings  large  groups  of  men  would  be  seen 
at  various  places  on  the  streets,  earnestly  talking  about 
all  they  had  seen  and  heard.  And  what  was  true  of  the 
men  was  just  as  true  of  the  women,  only  they  gathered 
in  each  other's  homes,  or  did  their  talking  over  back- 
yard fences. 

The  holding  of  tent  meetings  soon  opened  the  way  for 
Mr.  Sunday  to  go  into  much  larger  places  than  those 
in  which  he  had  been  working,  and  in  them  he  won  the 
same  success  he  had  previously  had.  The  larger  places 
having  better  press  facilities,  wider  and  earlier  publicity 
was  given  to  the  meetings.  The  small  city  papers,  being 
more  sensational  than  the  small  country  weeklies,  gave 
more  lurid  character  to  their  reports,  and  made  every- 
thing sensational  that  could  by  stretch  of  the  imagination 
be  made  to  appear  so.  Soon  they  began  to  make  snap- 
shot pictures  of  Sunday  in  striking  attitudes,  with  which 
to  embellish  their  high-colored  reports.  Through  these 
Sunday's  fame  began  to  widen  and  spread,  as  if  on  the 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS       99 

wings  of  the  wind,  and  more  frequent  and  more  urgent 
became  the  calls  for  meetings. 

Among  the  tent  meetings  of  which  it  is  possible,  at 
this  distant  day,  to  obtain  any  account,  was  one  held  at 
a  town  in  Iowa,  and  of  this  meeting  a  local  paper  had 
this  to  say: 

"  Billy  Sunday  spoke  last  evening  to  another  audience 
that  taxed  the  capacity  of  his  big  tent.  For  an  hour 
he  held  the  great  congregation  almost  breathless,  save 
for  the  liberal  applause  that  greeted  some  of  his  most 
salient  and  pungent  remarks.  His  text  was  :  *  Where  art 
thou?' 

"  As  a  painter  of  word  pictures  probably  no  one  ever 
spoke  here  before  who  could  equal  Sunday.  When  he 
told  the  story  of  Judas  betraying  Christ;  pictured  the 
three  groups  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  de- 
scribed the  terrible  mental  suffering  and  anguish  of  the 
Saviour,  as  he  prayed  and  wept  apart  from  his  disciples, 
there  were  not  many  who  could  not  in  imagination  see 
the  whole  dreadful  scene  that  was  but  a  prelude  to  the 
betrayal,  mock  conviction  and  crucifixion. 

"  In  his  sermon  Sunday  told  the  story  of  the  man 
who  appealed  to  Christ  to  cast  the  devil  out  of  his 
boy,  after  some  of  the  disciples  had  vainly  tried  to  do 
so.  He  told  of  the  power  it  would  take  to  cast  the 
devil  out  of  some  of  the  young  bucks  of  our  town.  *  And 
there  are  lots  of  them  here,  too,  I  am  told,'  said  he ; 
*  with  shoes  more  pointed  than  their  intellects ;  with  more 
collar  than  character ;  with  more  money  than  morals,  and 
not  much  of  that.  Why,  the  worldly  gang  in  the  churches 
couldn't  deliver  a  boy  from  a  devil  the  size  of  a  peanut. 
There  are  some  church  members  who  are  hibernating 
under  their  church  membership.  Some  who  will  wander 
through  the  world  under  the  guise  of  Christians,  and 


100  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

when  the  end  comes  they  will  be  buried  in  the  big  ceme- 
tery, a  massive  stone  raised  over  their  heads,  and  in 
letters  cold  and  gray  will  be  inscribed,  "  Gone  home ! " 
Yes;  gone  home — home — home !'  (pointing  sugges- 
tively to  the  ground). 

"  Sunday  then  likened  some  members  of  some  churches 
to  the  rural  school  committee,  who  were  examining  an 
applicant  for  the  place  of  teacher, 

^' '  In  teachin'  gogafy,'  one  of  the  board  asked,  *  do 
you  teach  that  the  world  is  round  or  fiat  ? ' 

"  The  young  man  replied  that  he  could  teach  it  either 
way,  and  they  could  take  their  choice  of  how  they  would 
have  it.    It  was  all  the  same  to  him. 

"  '  And  that  is  the  way  some  preachers  preach.  They 
will  put  into  their  sermons  just  what  their  congregations 
want,  and  leave  out  everything  they  don't  want.' 

"  It  was  a  great  congregation.  There  were  old  and 
young,  rich  and  poor,  sitting  side  by  side.  The  pros- 
perous business  man  sat  by  the  side  of  the  day  laborer, 
and  the  domestic  servant  sat  beside  the  woman  of  wealth 
and  culture,  all  social  distinctions  being  for  the  time  for- 
gotten. Religion  pure  and  undefiled  is  a  great  leveler. 
It  was  Sunday's  farewell  sermon,  and  everybody  who 
could  get  into  the  tent  or  near  it  was  there  to  hear  it. 
He  preached  a  great  sermon  on  the  Judgment  that  was 
one  of  the  most  searching  and  impressive  he  has  yet 
given.  A  sermon  that  cannot  soon  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  heard  it. 

"  At  the  close  many  responded  to  his  earnest  invitation 
to  make  an  unconditional  surrender  of  themselves  to 
Christ.  For  fifteen  minutes  men,  women  and  children 
thronged  the  aisles  on  their  way  forward.  And  then  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting  hundreds  almost  fought  their 
way  to  the  front  to  shake  hands  with  the  noted  evan- 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS     101 

gelist,  and  for  thirty  minutes  laughter  from  overflowing 
hearts  mingled  with  tears  of  joy,  as  the  people  still 
pressed  forward  to  shake  the  hand  of  the  man  who  had 
so  stirred  our  city/' 

For  some  time  longer  Sunday  continued  to  hold  tent 
meetings  in  the  summer,  and  during  the  winter  in  the 
largest  permanent  auditoriums  available,  and  with  un- 
broken success  wherever  he  went.  All  this  time  he  was 
growing  as  a  preacher,  learning  both  by  the  large  experi- 
ence in  the  field,  and  by  burning  the  midnight  oil,  for 
he  was  a  diligent  student,  and  continued  to  find  great 
ledges  of  gold  in  his  Bible,  the  Book  which  has  always 
been  to  him  beyond  all  others.  As  he  grew  in  power, 
experience  and  ability,  his  reputation  also  grew,  spread- 
ing from  a  congressional  district,  or  a  few  counties,  to 
a  considerable  section  of  a  state,  and  then  to  a  whole 
state,  and  then  to  another,  and  another,  until  his  name 
began  to  be  familiar  over  a  large  part  of  the  middle 
west.  This  could  have  but  one  effect,  and  that  was  to 
awaken  a  wider  and  wider  demand  for  his  services. 

In  every  community  there  are  people  who  are  con- 
stantly praying  for  a  betterment  of  religious  conditions, 
and  whenever  they  hear  of  one  whose  ministry  bears  the 
seal  of  God,  their  hearts  and  their  desires  turn  toward 
him.  They  long  to  have  their  own  hearts  quickened  and 
strengthened  by  his  preaching,  and  their  lives  made  more 
effective  by  his  instruction,  that  they  may  become  a 
channel  of  blessing  to  others. 

As  the  pressing  demand  for  his  services  increased,  and 
calls  for  meetings  multiplied,  Sunday  began  to  realize 
that  some  way  must  be  discovered  that  would  enable  him 
to  preach  to  the  people  without  having  to  turn  so  many 
away  for  lack  even  of  standing  room,  and  this  often  after 
long  drives  or  long  journeys  by  rail  had  been  made  to 


102  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

reach  the  place  of  meeting.  What  to  do  to  remedy  this 
he  could  not  for  some  time  imagine,  but  at  length  the 
idea  of  a  tabernacle  suggested  itself.  The  first  place  in 
which  this  idea  was  put  into  the  concrete  was  at  Perry, 
Iowa.  When  it  was  proposed  to  the  business  men  and 
ministers  who  had  given  Sunday  the  call  for  a  meeting, 
they  were  in  for  it  at  once,  and  so  it  was  decided  to 
build  a  tabernacle. 

Perry  was  at  that  time  a  town  of  about  three  thousand, 
and  all  the  Protestant  churches  united  in  the  under- 
taking. A  rough  board  tabernacle  was  built  that  only 
cost  seven  hundred  dollars,  and  its  seating  capacity  was 
not  over  a  thousand.  This,  like  others  since,  was  found 
too  small  before  the  meeting  closed.  At  most  of  the 
services  every  available  inch  of  space  was  occupied,  and 
people  were  turned  away  in  large  numbers. 

The  meeting  ran  three  weeks,  during  which  there  were 
three  hundred  conversions,  and  every  one  of  the  churches 
was  put  in  fine  spiritual  condition.  On  the  last  Sunday 
a  free  will  offering  of  $550  was  given  to  Mr.  Sunday. 

Existing  reports  of  this  pioneer  meeting  are  exceed- 
ingly meager,  but  from  a  scrapbook  fragment  of  a  weekly 
paper  of  that  time  the  following  account  of  the  last 
Sunday  is  taken : 

*'  Sunday  was  a  memorable  day  in  the  history  of  our 
city.  Three  large  audiences  crowded  the  tabernacle.  Mr. 
Sunday  preached  three  of  his  most  effective  sermons,  and 
scores  took  a  stand  for  Christ. 

"  The  current  expenses  of  the  meeting,  including  the 
rental  of  the  chairs  and  piano,  light,  fuel,  care  of  taber- 
nacle, etc.,  have  been  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars. This  was  met  by  the  basket  collections  taken  each 
evening.  The  cost  of  the  tabernacle  was  seven  hundred 
dollars,  but  the  lumber  in  it  will  pay  back  no  little  part 


THE   DAY    BEFORE. 


WHAT    HAPPENED   TO   SUNDAY  S   LAST  TENT   ON   THE   CLOS- 
ING  DAY    AT    SALIDA,    COL. 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS     103 

of  this  amount.  The  total  cost  of  the  meeting  has  been 
$1,300,  but  in  consideration  of  the  great  good  accom- 
plished, it  has  been  money  well  invested.  In  no  other 
way  could  so  small  a  sum  have  done  so  much  for  the 
community. 

"  Mr.  Sunday  preached  a  great  sermon  in  the  morning 
that  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  the  packed  audience 
that  heard  it.  In  the  afternoon  he  preached  with  telling 
effect  to  the  tabernacle  filled  with  men.  The  service  at 
night  was  a  most  impressive  one.  The  subject  was  tem- 
perance and  prohibition,  and  for  an  hour  and  a  half  the 
evangelist  hurled  hot  shot  into  the  liquor  traffic  and  its 
friends. 

"  At  the  close  of  both  the  afternoon  and  evening 
services  many  went  forward  as  seekers  of  religion.  The 
farewell  sermon  was  preached  on  Monday  evening,  and 
the  audience  tested  the  capacity  of  the  house.  Again 
there  v/ere  many  seekers. 

"  The  interest  manifested  in  the  Sunday  revival  meet- 
ings was  without  a  parallel  in  local  religious  history,  and 
increased  rather  than  diminished  up  to  the  time  the  train 
left  the  depot  with  the  noted  evangelist  on  board.  From 
the  first  sermon  it  was  evident  that  Mr.  Sunday  was  a 
man  of  great  natural  ability  and  liberal  culture,  a  fine 
orator,  with  an  extensive  vocabulary,  intensely  in  ear- 
nest, and  before  the  end  of  the  first  week  all  knew  that 
he  was  an  expert  in  evangelistic  work.  Whatever  there 
may  have  been  in  the  way  of  criticism  only  helped  his 
popularity,  and  made  greater  demand  for  seats  in  the 
tabernacle.  He  was  master  of  the  situation,  and  soon 
everybody  knew  it. 

*' '  What  crowds ! '  was  the  expression  heard  every 
night,  and  it  mattered  little  what  the  weather  was.  When 
the  people  once  began  going  nothing  could  stop  them. 


104  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

"  The  sermons  were  all  good,  without  a  single  ex- 
ception. Full  of  sentiment,  pathos,  argument,  good  logic, 
word  pictures,  impersonation,  etc.,  all  used  to  illustrate 
and  drive  home  gospel  truths.  In  his  arraignment  of 
card  playing,  dancing  and  the  saloon,  he  was  very  much 
in  earnest  and  remarkably  forcible.  In  fact  he  was  so 
scathing  in  his  denunciation  that  some  criticised  his  lan- 
guage, but  little  he  cared.  Usually  at  revivals  most  of 
the  converts  are  women  and  children,  but  that  was  not 
the  case  here.  In  fact,  just  the  opposite  was  true.  It 
is  most  wonderful  the  way  Sunday  gets  hold  of  men, 
and  men  of  all  kinds,  but  especially  so  of  young  men." 

Sunday's  last  tent  meeting  was  held  at  Salida,  Colo., 
beginning  about  the  fifteenth  of  September.  He  had 
gone  there  with  the  assurance  that  they  never  had  snow 
at  that  time  of  year,  and  so  felt  safe  on  that  score.  He 
had  the  usual  results,  of  a  great  meeting  with  deep  inter- 
est, large  attendance,  many  conversions,  and  the  people 
urging  him  to  stay  longer. 

But  after  the  meeting  closed  on  the  last  Saturday 
night,  storm  clouds  filled  the  heavens,  and  a  little  later 
filled  the  air  with  frost  and  snow.  The  next  morning 
when  Sunday  opened  his  eyes  from  the  peaceful  slumber 
in  which  the  night  had  wrapped  him.,  and  looked  out 
upon  the  new  day,  he  was  horrified  to  find  snow  to  the 
right  of  him,  snow  to  the  left  of  him,  snow  in  front 
of  him,  and  snow  something  like  three  or  four  feet  deep 
everywhere.  The  tent  was  loaded  down  and  crushed  with 
it,  and  the  streets  were  impassable.  It  was  all  the  more 
disheartening  because  that  was  the  closing  day  of  the 
meeting,  and  the  time  when  the  people  were  to  show 
how  much  they  appreciated  his  strenuous  labors  among 
them  by  giving  him  a  free  will  offering. 

However,  such  a  revival  as  had  come  from  Sunday's 


TENT  AND  TABERNACLE  MEETINGS      105 

intensely  practical  preaching  could  not  but  bring  to  the 
surface  a  few  good  Samaritans  who  soon  found  their 
way  to  him  and  began  to  cheer  his  heart  with  the  golden 
speech  that  "  doeth  good  like  a  medicine."  And  then  soon 
others  like  them  began  to  go  out  "  into  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  tlie  city,"  with  improvised  snow-plows,  and  by 
church  time  it  was  made  possible  for  those  in  every  part 
of  the  village  to  reach  the  place  of  worship. 

Many  willing  hands  had  done  what  they  could  toward 
putting  the  tent  in  condition  for  the  services,  but  this 
was  soon  found  to  be  out  of  the  question,  and  arrange- 
ments had  to  be  made  for  taking  the  meeting  into  the 
public  hall,  which  in  a  small  village  is  always  dignified 
with  the  name  of  "  Opera  House,"  but  it  could  not  ac- 
commodate half  the  people  the  tent  would  have  held. 
But  the  people  had  a  mind  to  give,  and  Sunday  did  not 
have  to  walk  home,  though  it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  had 
a  greater  scare. 


X 


STYLE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  SUNDAY'S 
PREACHING 

MUCH  preaching  is  done  over  the  heads  of  the 
people,  but  this  is  never  true  of  Sunday.  He 
gets  down  to  where  the  people  live,  and  talks 
so  plainly  that  they  know  what  he  means.  He  has  the 
gift  of  tongues,  but  his  speech  is  never  Greek  to  any  one. 
Little  children  are  as  much  interested  as  the  grown-ups, 
for  they  know  what  he  means  about  as  wxU  as  college 
professors.  He  could,  no  doubt,  sandpaper  and  polish 
his  sermons  until  they  would  be  admired  as  works  of 
art,  but  that  is  all  they  would  be,  and  the  market  is  over- 
stocked with  that  kind  now.  And  then  Sunday  does  not 
preach  for  admiration,  or  he  would  cut  his  stick  differ- 
ently. Some  preachers  do,  but  not  Billy  Sunday.  What 
he  wants  is  results  that  will  stand  the  fires  of  the  Judg- 
ment, and  that  is  why  in  every  sermon  he  tries  to  land 
under  the  fifth  rib.  He  can  be  eloquent,  and  often  is; 
wondrously  so,  but  that  is  incidental,  and  not  the  thing 
for  which  he  preaches. 

One  of  the  most  notable  characteristics  of  Sunday's 
preaching  is  that  it  is  always  interesting.  No  matter 
what  he  talks  about  he  has  undivided  attention,  and  holds 
it  without  effort  as  long  as  he  cares  to  talk.  He  is  inter- 
esting because  he  is  so  picturesque.  He  makes  you  see 
things,  and  see  them  in  an  interesting  way.  Darwin 
wrote  a  book  on  angleworms  that  reads  like  a  romance. 

106 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING  107 

Sunday  could  talk  about  a  rail  fence  and  make  you  see 
more  beauty  in  its  vineclad  nooks  and  corners  than  an- 
other could  show  you  in  a  cathedral.  He  has  an  im- 
agination that  can  make  the  most  commonplace  things 
as  radiant  with  beauty  as  fairyland.  He  can  paint  pic- 
tures with  words,  and  pictures,  too,  that  you  can  see  as 
plainly  as  any  an  artist  ever  painted  with  colors.  Sunday 
is  interesting,  not  because  he  describes  things,  but  be- 
cause he  holds  them  up  before  you  and  makes  you  see 
them  as  you  never  did  before. 

Sunday  is  interesting  because  he  uses  plain  and  simple 
language  when  he  preaches,  and  you  don't  have  to  have 
an  open  dictionary  in  your  lap  to  make  out  what  he 
means.  He  throws  no  Latin  or  Greek  at  your  head,  and 
takes  up  no  time  in  telling  what  this  clause  or  that  means 
in  the  original.  He  uses  the  plainest  kind  of  English, 
and  the  most  expressive  he  can  find.  He  calls  things  by 
their  right  names,  even  if  to  do  so  he  has  to  use  words 
that  almost  bum  and  blister.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  living 
preacher  can  pour  out  such  a  stream  of  red-hot  and 
sizzling  adjectives  to  show  the  scorn  and  withering  con- 
tempt he  feels  for  all  that  bears  the  name  of  sin  as 
Billy  Sunday.  When  he  stands  in  the  pulpit  with  his 
open  Bible  before  him,  he  fears  neither  man  nor  devil, 
and  in  the  terrific  and  almost  tragic  manner  in  which 
he  thunders  against  whatever  he  believes  to  be  wicked, 
you  can  almost  see  the  lightning  flashes  of  Sinai.  There 
are  moments  when  he  makes  you  think  of  the  way  in 
which  the  Master  denounced  the  scribes,  Pharisees  and 
hypocrites  in  the  twent3^-third  chapter  of  Matthew.  With 
no  more  fear  than  Elijah  had  when  he  stood  before  Ahab, 
he  tears  the  mask  from  sin,  and  makes  it  stand  before  you 
a  false  and  cruel  thing  that  is  devilish  and  wicked. 

While  he  thunders  terrific  denunciations  against  the 


108  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

sins  that  people  right  there  before  him  are  guilty  of, 
without  thought  or  care  as  to  where  his  burning  shafts 
will  strike,  blanched  faces  may  be  seen  all  over  the  taber- 
nacle. And  whatever  he  says  he  says  standing  on  the 
Rock  of  Ages,  with  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord  "  for  the  stand 
he  takes,  so  that  you  are  compelled  to  see  that  God  is 
against  the  thing  he  denounces,  as  plainly  as  Belshazzar 
saw  the  handwriting  on  the  wall.  By  his  remarkable  gift 
of  utterance,  expression  and  illustration  he  shows  how 
relentlessly  and  persistently  the  devil,  working  through 
the  allurements  of  fashionable  society,  finds  a  way  to 
run  his  claws  into  our  boys,  girls  and  young  people  and 
drag  them  headlong  to  perdition. 

Portraying  most  vividly,  by  word  and  action,  the  char- 
acter of  the  sin  he  denounces,  he  shoots  into  the  audience 
volley  after  volley  of  gospel  hot  shot,  until  many  before 
him  pale  and  tremble  with  conviction.  Sunday  has  thor- 
ough conversions  because  he  preaches  in  a  way  that  pro- 
duces deep  conviction.  People  strain  to  catch  every 
word  he  utters,  for  they  are  full  of  expectancy,  knowing 
that  he  has  the  courage  to  lay  bare  popular  sins  to  the 
teeth,  and  show  how  churches,  homes  and  society  are 
rank  with  hypocrites,  cowards  and  big  sinners,  and  when 
he  has  finished  the  worst  man  has  to  admit  to  his  own 
soul  that  for  once  he  has  heard  the  Bible  truth.  But 
after  telling  the  multitudes  of  their  individual  sinfulness, 
as  no  other  man  can  do  it,  he  points  the  way  of  deliver- 
ance so  plainly  and  convincingly  that  scores  and  hun- 
dreds at  a  time  crowd  forward  to  accept  the  great  gift 
that  God  has  offered  to  all  repentant. 

Does  Sunday  use  slang?  Well,  yes — some;  but  what 
is  slang  but  language  in  the  making,  and  unconventional 
speech  ?  Carefully  study  the  Bible  characters  whom  God 
has  used,  and  how  many  will  you  find  of  the  stereotyped 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING  109 

kind  ?  In  what  respect  was  Moses  like  other  men  ?  Was 
it  not  a  band  of  ram's  horns  that  led  Joshua's  army  to 
victory?  How  much  of  a  part  did  the  silver  trumpets 
have  in  that  campaign?  Didn't  Samson  thin  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  v/ith  the  jawbone  of  an  ass?  Didn't  David 
use  a  sling,  and  Shamgar  an  oxgoad?  And  then  there 
was  Gideon's  band,  with  their  lamps,  pitchers  and  trum- 
pets, and  remember  that  the  Master  himself  "  taught 
not  as  the  scribes."  These  were  all  unconventional 
methods,  but  notice  that  they  brought  more  than  con- 
ventional results.  When  some  evangelist  who  never 
uses  slang  begins  to  shake  the  world  for  God  in  a  way 
more  glorious  than  Sunday  has  done,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  condemn  its  use  as  an  unpardonable  sin.  No 
man  has  ever  been  much  of  a  leader  unless  he  had  the 
courage  to  step  off  alone. 

Jesus  did  not  preach  and  teach  in  classical  Greek,  but 
in  the  common  everyday  speech  of  the  common  people; 
the  language  of  the  street  and  the  market  place. 

In  a  place  where  Sunday  was  to  hold  a  meeting,  a 
delegation  of  ministers  requested  him  to  "  smooth 
down  "  his  preaching.    He  smiled,  and  said : 

"  Why,  if  I  did  that  I  wouldn't  have  any  more  people 
to  preach  to  than  you  men  do.'* 

Does  he  use  illlustrations  ?  Plenty  of  them,  and  good 
ones,  too.  He  couldn't  preach  without  them,  and  after 
hearing  him  once  you  would  never  want  him  to.  Too 
many  long  sermons  are  like  a  blank  wall,  without  a 
picture  or  a  window  anywhere.  Whoever  hears  any 
of  Sunday's  preaching  will  be  able  to  carry  away  enough 
of  it  to  awaken  somebody.  His  illustrations  always  illus- 
trate, and  make  you  see  things. 

The  gospel  Sunday  preaches  is  the  same  as  Jesus  and 
his  disciples  preached.     The  same  as  the  apostles  wrote 


110  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

of  in  their  epistles.  It  fits  the  millionaire  as  well  as  it 
does  the  man  who  toils  for  his  bread.  To  listen  to 
Sunday  is  to  find  yourself  with  a  blown-out  tire,  if  you 
are  a  hypocrite.  If  you  are  not  right  with  God  you  v/ill 
know  it  before  he  has  been  preaching  ten  minutes.  You 
will  begin  to  hate  your  life  and  your  sins  the  instant 
you  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Christ  he  preaches.  You  will 
see  that  all  sin  is  from  the  devil,  and  must  be  punished 
and  banished  somewhere. 

One  of  Sunday's  greatest  meetings  was  held  at 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  and  a  correspondent  of  the  Record  of 
that  city,  who  closely  studied  him  while  there,  had  this 
to  say: 

"  He  has  skimmed  the  literature  of  the  English  race  for 
information  and  illustrations,  and  has  a  slang  vocabulary 
that  is  simply  astounding.  He  uses  his  knowledge  with 
such  telling  effect  that  '  those  who  come  to  scoff  remain 
to  pray.'  His  earnestness,  his  transparent  honesty,  car- 
ries his  hearers  with  him,  and  his  slang  is  all  forgotten 
in  his  clarion  call  for  repentance;  his  denunciation  of 
all  that  is  bad,  vile  and  wicked,  and  in  his  praise  of  God, 
home  and  country. 

"  The  old  school  of  evangelists  were  of  the  itinerant 
class,  moving  rapidly  through  the  country,  their  evangel- 
ism seemed  sudden  in  its  effects,  and  I  am  afraid  some- 
what evanescent  in  its  results.  It  is  just  here  that  Sun- 
day's campaign  gives  promise  of  more  lasting  good.  His 
coming  has  been  carefully  prepared  for,  and  his  m.eeting 
place  is  undenominational  and  unconventional  in  char- 
acter. His  is  a  movement  conducted  with  great  business 
acumen  and  sound  common-sense.  He  trains  the  min- 
isters and  church  workers  in  such  a  way  as  to  m-ake 
them  capable  of  caring  for  the  harvest  when  it  comes. 
Like  a  good  farmer,  he  prunes  the  fruit  trees  with  vigor; 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING  111 

cuts  out  all  the  dead  wood  and  sprays  well  to  get  rid 
of  moths,  beetles  and  '  such  like/  so  that  when  the 
new  fruit  shall  ripen  it  will  be  sound  and  good.  Mr.- 
Sunday  is  a  man  with  a  great  faith.  He  prays  for  the' 
blessing,  he  prepares  for  the  blessing,  and  he  is  sure  of 
getting  it.  It  is  therefore  no  surprise  to  him  when  it, 
comes.  i 

"  The  late  revival  in  Wales  was  a  marvelous  spontane- 
ous outburst  of  religious  fervor,  and  roused  large  sec- 
tions of  country.  It  was  conducted  by  a  young  man 
named  Roberts,  who  being  ill-fitted,  both  mentally  and 
physically,  subsequently  broke  down,  just  when  a  leader 
was  most  needed.  Want  of  well-directed  effort,  want 
of  unity  on  the  part  of  the  churches  in  looking  after  and 
caring  for  the  converts  robbed  the  movement  of  much 
of  its  success.  The  Sunday  campaign  is  conducted 
vastly  different.  It  is  an  old  evangel,  presented  in  racy, 
striking  and  modernized  speech,  and  conducted  on  up-to- 
date  business  principles.  The  churches  are  a  unit,  and 
the  movement  has  been  aided  by  the  newspapers  in 
obtaining  a  publicity  unknown  to  the  fathers.  Despite 
a  few  doubting  Thomases  the  spirit  of  success  is  in  the 
air;  a  great  and  glorious  revival  is  upon  us,  the  effects 
of  which  are  sure  to  continue." 

Travelers  in  the  desert  have  often  described  the  palm 
tree  to  us.  Telling  of  its  loveliness  and  beauty  of  form, 
usefulness,  etc.,  but  no  matter  how  graphically  they 
picture  it,  we  must  see  the  tree  for  ourselves  before  we 
can  know  what  they  mean,  and  the  case  is  just  as  true 
of  Mr.  Sunday.  Little  can  be  known  of  him  until  he 
has  been  seen  and  heard.  We  can  read  all  the  news- 
papers have  to  say  about  him,  and  hear  all  that  those 
who  have  seen  him  may  be  able  to  tell  us,  and  yet  have 
an  altogether   wrong  opinion   of   the   man.     We   may 


112  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

read  his  printed  sermons,  and  hear  others  recite  all  they 
can  remember  of  them.  We  may  be  told  of  what  he 
says  and  how  he  says  it,  by  those  who  claim  to  know 
him,  and  yet  be  at  sea  as  to  his  real  personality  until 
we  have  seen  and  heard  him  for  ourselves. 

While  he  was  holding  a  meeting  at  South  Bend  some 
time  ago,  Rev.  T.  J.  Giblett,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Mishawaka,  had  this  to  say  of  him: 

**  The   one  question  upon   the  lips   of   every  one   is, 

*  Have  you  heard  Billy  Sunday  yet  ? '  and  if  the  answer 
is  in  the  affirmative  the  next  question  is,  '  Well,  what 
do  you  think  of  him  ? '  Varied  are  the  replies,  but  most 
of  them  can  be  summed  up  in  a  sentence  or  two  which 
runs  somewhat  like  this :  '  Great ! '  or  '  Wonderful ! '  or 

*  He's  all  right ! '  The  knocker  has  turned  booster,  the 
skeptic  has  become  convinced,  the  admiration  of  the 
friend  and  well-wisher  has  deepened  into  love  and  cham- 
pionship. 

"  No  one  can  doubt  the  absolute  sincerity  of  the  man. 
The  downright  earnestness  which  literally  consumes  his 
being.  He  is  a  Daniel  come  to  judgment,  a  Savonarola 
denouncing  the  sins  of  the  people,  an  Isaiah  pointing  to 
God  as  the  solution  of  great  public  questions.  A  Jeremiah 
burdened  on  account  of  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  the 
people,  and  beseeching  them  to  turn  to  the  Lord  for 
salvation.  The  common  people  hear  him  gladly  because 
he  understands  their  life.  The  well-to-do  and  cultured 
flock  to  his  meetings,  listen  to  his  burning  words,  his 
fierce  denunciation  of  their  sins  and  weaknesses;  yet 
return  again  and  again  for  more,  and  are  numbered 
among  his  staunchest  friends. 

"  You  cannot  explain  his  marvelous  success  on  any 
other  basis  than  that  God  is  with  him.  His  closest  asso- 
ciates have  said  that  he  is  a  man  of  God,  and  his  whole 


MY    FIRST    BIBLE. 


I  bought  this  at  a  second-hand  store  in  St.  Louis,  in  1886, 
for  35  cents.    I  wouldn't  take  $3,500  for  it  to-day. 


A    WORN-OUT    BIBLE. 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING  US 

attitude  attests  the  truth  of  the  statement.  I  have  no 
criticism  to  offer  as  to  the  work  done  in  South  Bend. 
If  any  prejudice  ever  lurked  in  my  mind  it  has  been 
dispelled  and  expelled  since  the  campaign  began.  His 
language  is  not  always  as  dignified  and  precise  as  that 
of  the  average  pulpit  to-day,  but  if  he  talked  as  we 
ministers  usually  do,  he  would  have  no  more  success  in 
getting  the  crowd  than  we  do.  And  there  is  something 
very  refreshing  in  having  things  called  by  their  right 
names,  as  also  is  the  absence  of  wriggling  diplomacy  to 
avoid  saying  things  that  cut. 

"  Nathan  the  prophet,  who  said  to  David,  *  Thou  art 
the  man ! '  seems  to  be  reincarnate  in  Billy  Sunday,  and 
the  average  man  who  listens  to  him  evidently  enjoys  that 
kind  of  preaching.  I  am  looking  for  a  mighty  army  to 
come  out  on  the  side  of  the  Lord  in  South  Bend.  The 
work  among  the  men  is  going  to  be  the  most  telling 
feature  in  the  campaign..  Sunday  after  Sunday  ten  thou- 
sand men  listen  attentively  and  enthusiastically  to  a 
magnificent  appeal  for  a  clean  life,  and  this  must  surely 
have  a  most  beneficial  effect  upon  the  whole  community." 

During  the  South  Bend  meeting,  J.  Andrew  Boyd, 
managing  editor  of  the  Wilkes-Barre  Record,  wrote  as 
follows  to  the  Tribune  of  that  city : 

"  Of  course  there  are  some  church  members  who  will 
not  go  to  hear  Sunday.  They  may  be  looked  up  to  and 
respected  by  the  community,  but  if  they  are,  it  is  because 
the  community  does  not  know  them.  They  are  living  a 
dual  life,  and  they  do  not  want  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
as  it  is  wielded  by  Billy  to  lay  bare  the  rottenness  of 
their  lives.  They  don*t  want  to  have  their  consciences 
disturbed.  They  have  been  crying,  *  Peace,  peace,'  so 
long  that  they  don't  want  to  be  told  that  *  there  is  no 
peace,  saith  my  God,  for  the  wicked.'     They  don't  like 


114  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

to  smell  brimstone.  They  want  deodorized  and  disin- 
fected sermons  of  tabloid  size.  Sermons  about  the  birds 
that  sing  in  the  wood,  the  flowers  that  bloom  in  the 
spring,  and  babbling  brooks  that  sing  on  their  way  to 
the  sea,  rather  than  sermons  about  the  song  of  the  re- 
deemed and  the  Rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  Water  of  Life. 

"  Then  there  are  the  women  of  culture,  and  the  women 
of  society,  who  will  not  go  to  hear  Billy.  Why?  Be- 
cause with  their  pink  teas,  their  bridge  and  theater  par- 
ties, and  the  care  of  their  poodles,  they  have  no  time. 
Why  should  they  cut  out  pink  teas  and  such  fol-de-rols, 
to  sit  on  a  wooden  bench,  with  their  feet  on  a  sawdust 
floor,  to  hear  a  man  '  reason  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance and  judgment  to  come  *?  Why  should  they  give 
up  bridge,  when  there  are  still  pieces  of  cut  glass  and 
•chocolate  pots  and  bric-a-brac  to  be  had  for  the  shuf- 
fling of  the  pasteboards?  Of  course  they  won't  go  to 
hear  him.  They  think  too  much  of  their  precious  skins, 
and  don't  want  to  be  flayed  alive,  or  shown  up  as  the 
whitened  sepulchres  that  they  are. 

*'  It  needs  no  prophet  to  say  that  the  booze  slingers 
will  not  go  to  hear  Billy.  They  have  no  use  for  him  in 
their  business,  and  their  business  and  Billy's  business 
won't  mix  any  more  than  oil  and  water  will  mix.  Be- 
sides, they  have  tender  hides,  and  don't  care  to  have 
them  peppered  as  full  of  holes  as  a  screen  door.  The 
whisky  man  knows  that  he  will  get  his  good  and  proper 
if  he  goes  to  hear  Billy.  The  brewer's  big  horses  can't 
run  over  Sunday.  He  is  no  more  afraid  of  them  than 
a  child  is  of  a  kitten.  No  man  of  modern  times  has 
given  the  saloon  such  a  scare  and  such  a  lambasting  as 
it  gets  from  Billy  Sunday,  and  *  there's  a  reason '  why 
they  don't  like  him. 

"  Of  course  there  are  a  few  others  who  will  not  go 


STYLE  OF  PREACHING  115 

to  hear  him,  but  generally  speaking,  there  are  not  many 
outside  the  classes  mentioned  above.  But  none  of  these 
will  be  missed  from  the  crowds  that  will  hear  him,  and 
for  every  one  opposed  to  him  there  are  hundreds  who 
favor  him,  and  believe  in  him,  and  before  he  closes  his 
campaign  in  South  Bend,  his  traducers  and  vilifiers  will 
be  hunting  holes  to  crawl  into — and  a  mighty  small  hole 
will  answer  for  the  biggest  of  them." 


r 


XI 

LAST  DAY  OF  THE  BURLINGTON   MEETING 

SUNDAY'S  meeting  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  was  one  of 
his  greatest  up  to  that  time,  and  attracted  wide 
attention.  This  chapter  is  taken  from  the  Hawk- 
eye's  report  of  the  closing  day,  and  was  written  by  Dr. 
Q.  Walter  Barr,  a  journalist  of  Keokuk: 

"  Rev.  W.  A.  Sunday's  labors  of  five  weeks  closed  in 
Burlington  amid  a  scene  of  wild  enthusiasm.  A  half 
acre  of  fluttering  handkerchiefs  and  cheers  from  six 
thousand  throats,  shouting  in  a  delirium  of  feeling,  after 
twenty-five  hundred  persons  had  been  added  to  the 
membership  of  Burlington  churches,  with  hundreds 
more  giving  notice  of  their  coming  a  little  later. 
After  this  staid  old  city,  firm  in  the  conservatism  of  a 
one-time  capital  of  Iowa,  had  been  faced  about  and  given 
such  an  uplift  of  moral  standard  that  the  observer  within 
its  gates  who  saw  its  intense  antagonism  six  weeks  ago, 
is  overwhelmed  with  amazement  at  the  change. 

**  After  this  man  showed  oratorical  ability  strong 
enough  to  pack  a  huge  structure,  with  four  to  six  thou- 
sand people  at  every  session,  and  to  have  the  largest 
attendance  at  the  end  of  five  weeks  constant  speaking. 
After  the  topmost  item  in  the  data  of  the  table  of  his- 
tory of  revivalism  in  America  had  been  surpassed,  and 
the  wonderful  work  of  Australia,  Wales  and  England 
had  been  equaled.  After  local  ministers  assisting  him 
had  collapsed  and  gone  to  bed  broken  down,  and  wiry 

116 


LAST  DAY  AT  BURLINGTON  117 

newspaper  men  accustomed  to  the  strenuous  life  were 
on  the  verge  of  exhaustion,  this  most  remarkable  man 
in  the  world  to-day  ended  a  day  of  three  tremendous 
sermons,  as  chipper  as  a  newly  elected  candidate,  and      ] 
in  a  voice  still  able  to  carry  half  a  mile,  shouted : 

" '  Farewell,  fellow  sinners ;  I'm  free  from  your 
blood ! ' 

"  The  last  scene  of  the  drama  so  full  of  the  strongest 
heart  throbs  of  humanity  as  to  be  a  tragedy  many  times ; 
so  full  of  the  unusual  climacteric  as  to  be  thrilling  at 
times ;  with  something  of  comedy  at  times ;  the  last  scene 
may  indicate  something  of  the  tremendousness  of  what 
has  occurred  here  in  the  last  five  weeks. 

"  It  is  half  past  seven  o'clock  of  a  Sabbath  evening 
in  the  tabernacle  on  West  Hill.  The  building  of  thin 
pine  boards  and  long  roof  trusses  is  packed  with  a  solid 
mass  of  people  so  tightly  that  women  faint  in  the  crush, 
and  strong  men  find  their  arms  pinioned  to  their  sides. 
Full  six  thousand  people  are  in  that  mass  of  humanity 
that  is  quiet,  because  it  has  no  chance  to  move.  They 
all  sing  gospel  songs  in  a  grand  chorus,  such  as  was 
never  heard  in  Iowa  before.  Then  a  man  with  a  pleasant 
face  and  an  iron-gray  imperial  advances  a  step  nearer  to 
the  high  pulpit  edge  of  the  platform,  at  one  end  of  the 
crowded  building,  and  says  a  few  words  of  appreciation 
of  this  evangelist  and  his  work. 

"The  waves  that  have  been  toppling  the  great  tidal 
swell  for  weeks  break  over  in  whitecaps.  The  level  plain 
of  a  half-acre  of  heads  becomes  a  lake  of  white  hand- 
kerchiefs wildly  waving  at  arm's  length.  Cheer  after 
cheer  goes  up,  reminding  one  of  the  roar  of  national 
conventions  when  presidents  are  made.  Time  after  time 
the  waves  of  feeling  break  into  whitecaps,  and  the  cheers 
resound  to  the  rafters  and  the  sky.    That  was  Burling- 


118  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

ton's  answer  to  the  request  that  all  who  have  learned  to 
love  and  respect  William  A.  Sunday  should  indicate  their 
feeling  toward  him. 

"  The  background  of  this  picture  was  the  surging 
measure  of  song  that  rolled  out  in  the  big  tabernacle 
from  thousands  of  voices,  led  by  the  chorus  choir  of 
hundreds,  as  the  people  sung  what  was  in  their  hearts. 
After  the  final  evening  sermon,  and  long  after  the 
preacher  of  it  had  gone  to  his  rest,  the  people  remained 
and  sang. 

"  ^  When  the  roll  is  called  up  yonder,  I'll  be  there !  * 
had  new  meaning  to  some  of  them. 

" '  The  Sweet  By-and-By '  was  nearer  than  ever  to 
some  of  them. 

"  '  Shall  we  gather  at  the  river  ? '  was  answered  by  an 
increased  volume  of  sound  at  the  verse — 

*' '  Yes,  we'll  gather  at  the  river ! ' 

"  *  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds,'  was  chanted  over  and 
over  again  between  other  hymns,  as  '  My  Jesus,  I  love 
thee,'  and  '  Where  He  leads  I'll  follow,'  for  *  I  surrender 
all,'  this  last  song  of  the  famous  *  Little  Red  Book,'  was 
sung  over  and  over  again,  and  then  repeated  at  the  end 
once  more. 

"  These  things  were  the  end  of  a  day  of  almost  con- 
tinual procession  of  great  things  occurring  in  a  moving 
panorama.  The  greatest  scene  of  the  day  was  the  men's  1 
meeting  in  the  afternoon,  when  between  four  and  five 
thousand  stood  to  pledge  their  practical  support  at  the 
polls  and  elsewhere,  to  the  mayor,  if  he  shall  close  the 
saloons  on  Sunday,  and  exterminate  the  gambling 
houses  in  Burlington.  — ' 

*'  They  did  it  with  cheers  and  apparent  determination. 
That  was  a  climax  harmonizing  with  the  sermon  to  the 
effect  of  the  liquor  traffic  on  human  society,  which  was 


LAST  DAY  AT  BURLINGTON  119 

full  of  figures  and  facts.  It  was  a  sermon  of  such 
strenuosity  that  soon  after  the  text  this  battleship  of 
a  man  was  firing  his  thirteen-inch  battery,  stripped  for 
action,  without  coat,  cuffs,  collar  or  vest. 

'*  The  morning  sermon  was  a  sort  of  musical  symphony 
of  oratory,  with  constantly  recurring  motif :  '  Look  to 
yourselves,  that  ye  receive  a  full  reward ! ' 

"  The  evening  sermon  had  another  of  those  refrains 
which  are  so  common  in  the  pulpit  product  of  this  re- 
markable preacher,  that  roar  out  at  times,  and  again  ring 
like  a  trumpet,  and  then  come  back  time  and  again 
softly,  like  echoes  from  the  bluffs,  to  be  sent  out  again 
in  a  shout,  and  come  again  in  an  echo.  The  refrain  of 
the  evening  sermon  was  the  one  word : 

"  *  To-morrow  ! '  and  its  harmonic  was  : 

'''E-t-e-r-n-i-t-y!' 

"  The  sermon  was  the  strongest  possible  expression  of 
the  human  soul  struggling  in  the  greatest  possible  feeling 
of  responsibility,  and  it  lifted  some  of  the  responsibility 
from  the  shoulders  of  the  preacher  to  the  hearts  of  his 
auditors.  It  was  a  story  rich  in  those  flowering  stories 
each  of  which  has  a  fruition  of  a  lesson  at  the  end. 

"  '  The  peroration  of  the  entire  series  of  meetings  in- 
cluded a  little  poem,  which  this  excellent  elocutionist 
read  in  a  most  impressive  way.    It  had  for  its  keynote — 

"  '  We  scarce  know  our  friends, 
Till  we  have  bid  them  farewell.* 

"  Rev.  William  A.  Sunday  made  it  express  something 
of  his  own  feelings,  as  he  bade  farewell  to  Burlington, 
and  it  was  appropriate,  for  it  was  full  of  religious  fervor. 

"  The  coming  of  the  three  hundred  and  forty  converts 
of  the  last  day  was  a  scene  worthy  of  better  description 
than  it  ever  will  have.     The  center  of  the  cyclone  was 


120  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

at  the  end  of  the  afternoon  sermon,  when  strong  men 
pushed  their  way  through  the  crowded  building  to  reach 
.  the  helping  hand  extended  to  them  from  the  edge  of  the 
purple  platform  above  their  heads.  In  a  minute  after 
the  invitation  was  given  the  aisles  were  jammed  like  the 
Chippewa  river  is  sometimes  with  pine  logs.  Then  the 
jam  broke  loose,  and  the  current  of  men  rushed  down  and 
into  the  seats  which  the  ushers  were  rapidly  clearing  in 
front. 

"  Workers  were  running  around,  and  stirring  up  the 
mass  of  people  which  had  packed  the  tabernacle  until  the 
very  walls  were  strained.  Others  were  trying  to  make 
paths  for  the  seekers  to  travel  to  the  cleared  space  in 
front  of  the  platform,  upon  which  stood  this  man  Sun- 
day, who  had  stirred  up  the  seething,  boiling,  churning 
maelstrom  of  humanity  to  make  a  picture  not  often  seen 
in  the  whole  world. 

"  Sometimes  he  stood  leaning  over  the  edge  of  the 
high  platform,  reaching  down  his  hand  to  the  men 
stretching  up  their  hands  from  below,  with  gestures  like 
that  of  a  man  in  paintings,  reaching  from  the  edge  of 
the  ship's  rescuing  boat. 

"  *  Come  on,  men ! '  was  the  cry  constantly  resounding 
from  the  leader  in  action,  as  desperately  vital  and  strong 
as  ever  was  seen  in  a  commander  leading  a  charge  in  the 
crisis  of  a  battle ;  and  men  rallied  to  his  colors. 

"  The  call  for  converts  at  the  other  two  services  of 
the  Sabbath  was  less  loud,  but  equally  determined.  In 
the  morning  there  was  immediate  response  to  the  invita- 
tion, and  a  steady  stream  came  down  the  aisles  for  a 
short  time  without  any  urging,  until  fifty  men  had  re- 
sponded. 

"  The  evening  call  for  converts  was  less  urgent,  but 
very  intense  in  its   earnestness.     The  building  was  so 


LAST  DAY  AT  BURLINGTON  in 

densely  packed  at  the  last  meeting  that  they  had  fairly 
to  fight  their  way  down  the  aisles  which  checked  the 
stream  at  first,  but  in  five  minutes  the  way  had  been 
cleared,  so  that  they  came  down  in  a  steady  current, 
faster  and  faster,  until  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  persons 
occupied  the  front  seats. 

"  Most  of  the  audience — enough  to  make  the  taber- 
nacle seem  filled — stood  up  to  watch  the  moving  picture 
at  the  front,  most  of  them  standing  on  the  benches.  Fre- 
quently applause  broke  out,  as  some  prominent  man 
reached  up  his  hand  to  the  platform,  and  turned  to  the 
seats  provided  for  the  seekers. 

"  Perhaps  the  loudest  applause  was  when  there  came 
down  a  side  aisle,  and  across  the  space  in  front  of  the 
platform,  a  man  with  a  mass  of  silver-gray  hair,  top- 
ping a  very  strong  face,  a  high  forehead  and  a  large 
head  with  many  cranial  curves  suggestive  of  Robert  E. 
Lee — a  man  whose  head  and  features  would  attract  at- 
tention anywhere,  and  who  seemed  to  be  specially  the 
object  of  regard  here  in  Burlington,  where  he  has  been 
a  school  principal  for  many  years." 


XII 
EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS 

SOMETIMES  the  unpardonable  sin  may  be  utter 
and  absolute  indifference.  Some  can  hear  any 
sermon  and  any  song,  and  still  remain  unmoved. 
I'll  venture  that  some  of  you  have  not  been  convicted 
of  sin  for  twenty-five  years.  No  matter  what  you  do, 
your  conscience  never  hurts  you.  Back  yonder  some- 
where the  Spirit  of  God  convicted  you,  but  you  didn't 
yield.  The  first  place  I  ever  preached,  in  my  own  meet- 
ing, was  in  the  little  town  of  Garner,  Hancock  County, 
Iowa.  As  a  man  came  down  the  aisle  I  said,  "  Who  is 
that  ?  *'  and  some  one  told  me  it  was  one  of  the  richest 
men  in  the  county.  I  asked  him  what  I  had  said  to  help 
him,  and  he  replied,  "  Nothing." 

Then  he  told  me  that  twenty-one  years  before  he  had 
gone  to  Chicago  and  sold  his  stock,  four  hours  before 
he  had  to  catch  a  train.  Moody  w^as  in  town  holding  a 
meeting,  and  with  a  friend  the  Garner  man  had  gone  and 
stood  inside  the  door,  listening  to  the  sermon.  When 
Moody  gave  the  invitation  he  handed  his  coat  and  hat 
to  his  friend,  and  said  he  was  going  forward.  The 
friend  told  him  not  to  do  it,  or  he  would  miss  his  train, 
and  that  his  railroad  pass  would  be  no  good  after  that 
day.  He  said  he  could  afford  to  pay  his  way  home. 
His  friend  told  him  not  to  go  up  there  amid  all  the 
excitement,  but  to  wait  and  settle  it  at  home.  He  said 
he  had  waited  thirty-five  years  without  settling  it  at 

123 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS  123 

home,  but  his  friend  finally  prevailed,  and  they  left  to 
make  the  train,  without  first  going  forward,  as  he  had 
so  much  desired  to  do. 

He  told  me  that  he  had  never  afterward  had  the  slight- 
est desire  to  be  a  Christian,  in  all  that  twenty-one  years, 
until  he  heard  me  preach  that  night.    Had  he  been  deaf  • 
to  that  call  I  doubt  if  he  would  ever  have  had  another. 


^ 


I  don't  care  if  a  church  has  two  thousand  members. 
What  I  ask  is,  how  much  power  have  they?  Nine  times 
out  of  ten  you  blame  the  evangelist  when  there  are  no 
conversions,  instead  of  the  God-forsaken,  booze-hitting 
card-playing  church  members.  There  were  places  where 
Jesus  could  do  no  mighty  works  because  of  unbelief 
where  there  should  have  been  faith.  As  unbelief  in- 
creases faith  decreases,  and  that's  the  trouble  with  too 
many  churches  to-day.  What  the  church  needs  isn't 
pipe  organs.  They're  all  right,  but  they  won't  bring 
power.  You  can  never  move  any  mountains  with  them. 
I  think  God  ought  to  have  the  finest  buildings  and  the 
finest  decorations.  I  believe  in  them.  Nothing  can  ever 
be  too  fine  for  him,  but  faith  is  the  only  thing  that  can  i 
ever  roll  the  mountains  into  the  sea.  -i 

Faith  is  to  us  what  a  trolley  is  to  a  street  car.  The 
trolley  is  the  means  by  which  the  power  gets  from  the 
dynamo  to  the  motor,  and  the  motor  is  what  makes  the 
car  go.  I  cannot  touch  God  with  my  hands,  but  I  can 
touch  you.  You  are  material;  God  is  spiritual.  Faith 
is  the  hand  of  the  soul,  and  it  is  with  it  we  must  touch 
God.  There  is  a  law  of  faith  as  positive  as  the  law  of 
electricity.  We  get  results  from  electricity,  when  we 
obey  its  law,  whether  we  understand  it  or  not.  We  do 
as  electricity  commands,  and  it  gives  us  power  without 


4lk 


124  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

stint.  When  we  obey  God's  spiritual  laws  just  as  fully 
— and  by  these  I  mean  the  laws  of  faith — he  will  take  up 
our  mountains  and  throw  them  into  the  sea  for  us. 
When  we  obey  the  law  of  electricity  we  have  physical 
power,  and  when  we  obey  the  law  of  faith  we  have 
spiritual  power.  That's  all  there  is  to  it.  One  is  as 
certain  as  the  other,  for  the  same  God  is  back  of  both. 
It  is  the  most  common-sense  thing  in  the  world,  this 
religion.  You  say  you  don't  understand  it.  You  don't 
have  to  understand  electricity  to  ride  on  a  street  car,  do 
you?  You  don't  have  to  understand  it  to  send  a  tele- 
graph message,  or  talk  over  the  telephone.  So  do  what 
God  tells  you  in  religion,  whether  you  understand  it  or 
not,  and  you  will  get  results  that  will  convince  and  satisfy 
you.  "  If  any  man  will  do  his  will  he  shall  know" 
There  will  be  no  guesswork  about  it.  The  trouble  with 
too  many  churches  is,  that  while  they  have  fine  church 
buildings,  fine  organs,  fine  pews,  fine  music  and  fine 
preaching,  they  are  not  in  connection  with  the  power 
house.  You  don't  have  to  break  the  wheels  and  smash 
in  the  sides  of  a  traction  car  to  make  it  stand  still.  Just 
break  the  connection  and  the  light  goes  out,  and  there 
you  are. — Sermon  on  Faith. 


A  man  says,  "  I  do  not  believe  the  Bible  because  there 
are  inconsistencies  in  it."  I  say,  the  greatest  incon- 
sistency is  not  in  the  Bible,  but  in  your  life.  I  bring  to 
that  man  the  memory  of  an  awful  deed,  and  he  immedi- 
ately begins  to  find  fault  with  the  Bible.  You  talk 
business  or  politics  with  him,  and  he  will  talk  sense. 
Talk  religion,  and  he  will  talk  nonsense. 

I  said  to  a  barkeeper  one  time,  "  Why  don't  you  give 
your  heart  to  Christ?    You  are  too  nice  a  fellow  to  be 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS  125 

in  this  vile  business."     He  said,  "  I  wouldn't  be  in  it 
if  the  church  members  hadn't  voted  for  me." 

If  there  is  anything  that  makes  me  sick,  it  is  to  have 
some  red-nosed,  buttermilk-eyed,  beetle-browed,  peanut- 
brained,  stall-fed  old  saloon  keeper  say  that  he  wouldn't 
be  in  the  business  if  it  were  not  for  the  church  members 
voting  for  him.  Hell  is  so  full  of  such  church  members 
that  their  feet  are  sticking  out  of  the  windows. 


Dr.  Arnold,  of  Rugby,  once  wrote  a  letter  to  Dean 
Swift,  in  which  he  said :  ''  Whenever  a  day  comes  when 
I  can  receive  a  boy  into  my  school  without  emotion,  it 
will  be  time  for  me  to  be  off."  Whenever  a  day  comes 
when  I  can  stand  and  preach  God's  word  without  an 
agony  of  anxiety  lest  the  people  will  not  accept  Christ ; 
whenever  a  day  comes  when  I  can  see  men  and  w^omen 
coming  down  the  aisles  without  joy  in  my  heart,  I'll  quit 
preaching. 


The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  not  in  smelling  the  bag 
or  chewing  the  string,  but  in  eating  it,  and  yet  there  are 
lots  of  men  who  try  to  decide  the  value  of  Christianity 
by  smelling  the  bag  and  chewing  the  rag  over  some 
hypocrites  in  the  church.  That  is  an  easy  matter,  for  it 
requires  no  brains,  or  sense,  or  thought;  very  little  read- 
ing, and  less  yet  of  observation. 

I  was  in  Washington  not  long  ago,  and  went  into  the 
Secret  Service  Department,  and  there  my  friend.  Chief 
Wilkie,  took  me  to  the  room  where  they  keep  the  money 
made  by  counterfeiters,  and  the  tools  with  which  they 
make  it.  Now,  when  I  saw  that  stuff,  that  money  that 
was  no  good,  do  you  think  I  went  down  into  my  pocket 


126  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

and  took  out  the  good  silver  dollar  I  had  there  and 
threw  it  away,  just  because  I  saw  all  that  bad  money? 
Not  much  I  didn't.  My  one  good  dollar  would  buy 
more  than  all  that  counterfeit  stuff.  That  is  just  what 
a  lot  of  you  fellows  are  doing  who  are  not  Christians^ 
because  there  are  hypocrites  in  the  church. 


I  have  been  told  that  a  dove  has  been  known  to 
tremble  when  a  single  feather  from  a  vulture's  wing  has 
been  held  in  front  of  it.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  is 
a  fact,  but  I  do  know  that  the  Holy  Spirit  trembles 
and  is  grieved  by  the  actions  and  indifference  of  some 
of  you  church  members.  I  know  it  because  I  know  that 
God  loves  us,  and  where  there  is  love  there  will  be 
grief  at  wrong-doing. 

Everybody  knows  that  in  this  day  and  age  the  farmer 
who  would  do  his  plowing  with  a  crooked  stick  would 
be  set  down  as  a  fool.  The  farmer  who  has  sense  uses 
the  best  plow  and  farm  machinery  he  can  get,  and  would 
not  for  a  minute  think  of  farming  as  his  great  grand- 
father did.  Bishop  Taylor  promised  God  he  would  do 
as  much  hard  thinking  and  planning  for  him  as  he  would 
do  for  any  man  for  money,  and  he  did  it.  So  did  John 
Wesley  and  Whitefield  and  Savonarola,  and  look  what 
they  did  for  God!  If  there  is  any  better  way  of  doing 
God's  work  to-day  than  there  was  a  hundred  years  ago, 
in  heaven's  name  let  us  do  it  in  that  way.  He  is  entitled 
to  the  very  best  possible. 

This  thing  of  just  ringing  the  church  bell  to  get  people 
to  attend  is  bigger  fool  business  than  it  would  be  for 
the  farmer  of  to-day  to  plow  with  a  crooked  stick. 
Things  are  not  run  that  way  in  the  business  world.  In 
business  the  machine  or  method  that  is  out  of  date  goes 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS  127 

to  the  scrap  heap,  but  in  religion  we  hold  on  to  it  until 
it  is  covered  with  moss  a  foot  thick,  and  say  with  a 
pious  whine,  ''  Surely  it  is  not  God's  set  time  to  work ! "' 
In  business  a  better  machine  and  a  better  method  always 
drives  out  a  poorer  one,  but  in  religion  we  are  hundreds 
of  years  behind  the  time,  and  then  we  blame  God  be- 
cause we  are  boneheads.  In  religion  we  do  our  fighting 
with  the  same  old  smoothbore  flintlock  muskets,  and 
climb  up  Zion's  hill  in  the  same  old  stage  coaches,  over 
corduroy  roads,  and  if  anybody  hints  at  a  better  way 
wx  roll  our  eyes  and  look  as  if  we  had  on  a  hair  shirt, 
as  again  we  say,  "  Surely  this  is  not  God's  set  time  to 
work!" 

I  tell  you  any  time  is  God's  time.  Now  is  God's  time.  It 
was  God's  time  to  give  us  electricity  long  before  Franklin 
discovered  it,  but  everybody  was  too  thick-skulled  to 
know  it.  It  was  God's  time  to  give  us  the  electric  light 
long  before  Edison  invented  it,  but  nobody  had  sense 
enough  to  understand  it.  It  was  God's  time  to  give  us  the 
steam  engine  long  before  Watt  watched  the  teakettle  boil, 
and  saw  it  puff  the  lid  off,  but  nobody  had  sense  enough 
to  grasp  the  idea.  Had  we  been  as  boneheaded  in  in- 
vention and  business  as  we  have  been  in  religion,  we 
would  hardly  be  out  of  the  stone  age  yet.  Give  yourself 
to  God  outright,  and  be  willing  to  wake  up  and  climb 
up,  and  you'll  soon  find  yourself  doing  lots  of  things 
that  will  astonish  you  and  the  old  crowd  you  have  been 
so  long  buried  with.  No  man  can  ever  know  the  amazing 
power  that  lies  dormant  in  him,  until  God  gets  complete 
control  of  his  individuality. 

D.  L.  Moody  was  a  shoe  salesman,  and  never  dis- 
covered the  power  that  was  in  him  until  God  got  hoM 
of  him  and  set  him  to  work.  Jerry  McAuley  was  an 
old  wharf  rat  until  he  gave  himself  as  a  living  sacrifice 


128  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

to  God.  Andrew,  the  humble  disciple,  was  an  obscure 
and  lowly  man  until  God  took  him  in  hand.  We  make 
our  store  windows  blaze  with  electric  light,  and  keep 
them  that  way,  even  on  dark  days,  and  yet  allow  so  many 
of  our  churches  to  look  like  a  London  fog  on  prayer 
meeting  night.  If  a  man  has  joy  and  love  and  peace 
inside,  he  dishonors  God  if  he  goes  around  looking  as 
if  he  had  no  friends  on  earth  or  in  heaven.  Give  your 
face  to  God  and  He  will  put  His  shine  on  it.  If  you 
are  one  of  the  long-faced  brand  of  Christians,  get  rid 
of  it.  God  never  put  such  a  face  on  you.  That's  the 
kind  of  faces  the  Pharisees  had,  and  Jesus  said  their 
faces  were  disfigured.  When  a  man  tries  to  make  him- 
self, without  asking  God  to  help  him,  he  is  sure  to  have 
a  face  as  long  as  a  smokestack — more  or  less.  I  tell  you 
the  devil  will  bank  his  fire  and  go  to  church  to  hear  a 
man  like  that  give  testimony.  God  doesn't  want  you  to 
look  and  act  as  if  your  religion  affected  you  like  the 
toothache.  If  it  does  it  isn't  God's  kind. — Sermon  on 
Consecration. 


At  one  place  where  I  was  holding  a  meeting  in  Iowa, 
a  young  man  went  out,  and  he  was  mad.  He  went  out 
storming  and  raving,  cussing  and  damning  the  preacher 
and  the  church,  and  everything  and  everybody ;  declaring 
that  he  didn't  believe  in  God;  didn't  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ;  didn't  believe  in  inspiration;  didn't  believe  the 
Bible ;  didn't  believe  in  anything. 

That  fellow  was  a  Knight  Templar,  and  the  next  even- 
ing, I  was  told,  the  lodge  had  an  all-night  session  with 
the  young  man,  trying  to  make  him  see  the  error  of  his 
ways.     I  said  to  the  friend  who  told  me  this : 

"  Did  you  throw  him  out  of  the  lodge  ?  " 


"  BILLY       JR. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS  129 

"  Oh,  no/'  he  said. 

**  Why  didn't  you  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Your  lodge  believes 
in  God  and  in  the  Bible,  and  this  fellow  don't.  Why 
don't  you  put  him  out?  " 

And  yet  they  complain  about  the  hypocrites  in  the 
churches.  They've  got  plenty  of  them  in  every  lodge. 
Is  that  an  argument  against  the  lodge?  Of  course  not, 
unless  you  are  an  unadulterated  fool.  There  isn't  a 
church  in  this  city  that  hasn't  got  a  lot  of  hypocrites  in 
it.  Is  that  an  argument  against  the  churches  ?  Certainly 
not. 


Where  you  put  salt  it  kills  the  bacteria  that  cause 
decay.  If  a  man  were  to  take  a  piece  of  meat  and  smell 
it  and  look  disgusted,  and  his  little  boy  were  to  say : 

"  What's  the  matter  with  it,  pop  ? "  and  he  should 
say: 

'*  It  is  undergoing  a  process  in  the  formation  of  new 
chemical  compounds,"  tlie  boy  would  be  all  in;  he 
wouldn't  understand.    But  if  his  father  were  to  say : 

"  It's  rotten !  "  then  the  boy  would  understand  and 
hold  his  nose.  Perhaps  this  will  be  all  some  of  you  need 
to  know  why  I  preach  as  I  do. 

"  Rotten  "  is  a  good  Anglo-Saxon  word,  and  you  don't 
have  to  go  to  the  dictionary  to  know  what  it  means. 
Some  of  you  preachers  better  look  out,  or  the  devil  will 
get  away  with  some  of  your  members  before  they  can 
find  out  what  you  mean  in  your  sermons. 

You  notice  I  use  a  good  many  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
and  I  do  it  not  only  to  save  time,  but  to  save  some  of  the 
people  who  don't  have  a  whole  bookcase  in  their 
heads. 

"  A  process  in  the  formation  of  new  chemical  com- 


130  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

pounds,"  is  just  the  Bostonese  way  of  saying  a  thing 
is  rotten.  It's  the  society  way  of  trying  to  keep  from 
holding  your  nose,  because  it's  vulgar,  but  I  like  "  rotten  " 
because  it  gets  over  the  line  quicker.  Too  many 
preachers  are  doing  all  their  preaching  according  to  the 
Bostonese,  but  I  beheve  in  ringing  the  fire  bell  before  the 
house  burns  down. 


Every  nation  must  have  its  vision  of  God,  or  go  down. 
Where  now  is  Babylon  ?  Gone  !  Where  now  is  Rome  ? 
Gone !  and  all  we  know  about  it  comes  from  ''  Gibbon's 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire."  Where  now  is 
Greece  ?    Gone !  and  Straubau  tells  us  about  its  glory. 

If  America  has  the  sins  of  Babylon  she  will  have  the 
punishment  of  Babylon,  and  don't  you  think  she  won't. 
Don't  think  that  because  you  can  stand  around  and  boast 
of  her  glories,  and  say  you  can  build  a  wall  around  her 
and  live  on  what  is  produced  inside,  without  the  aid  of 
any  outside  nation,  and  boast  of  her  wealth  and  her 
power,  that  she  will  not  be  punished  for  sin.  These 
things  are  all  right.  You  have  the  right  to  tell  of  them, 
but  let  us  remember  there  is  another  side.  If  we  put 
God  out,  all  of  the  wealth  and  all  of  the  power  on  earth 
will  not  stay  the  judgment. 


Out  in  Boulder,  Colo.,  I  attended  a  miners'  picnic,  a 
great  affair  that  is  held  each  year,  and  I  saw  a  drilling 
contest  there.  Two  men  would  take  a  drill  and  bore  a 
hole  in  a  block  of  solid  granite,  and  they  would  keep  a 
hose  turned  on  the  drill  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  too 
hot. 

There  isn't  much  that  is  interesting  in  drilling  a  hole 


EXTRA.CTS  FROM  SERMONS  131 

in  a  block  of  granite,  is  there  ?  Yet  that  crowd  applauded, 
and  pretty  soon  I  found  myself  standing  up,  so  that  I 
could  see  better,  and  I  found  myself  applauding,  too. 
I  was  wonderfully  interested  in  that  contest.  Two  men 
bored  a  hole  twenty-eight  inches  deep  in  ten  minutes. 
If  two  men  drilling  a  hole  in  a  block  of  granite  can 
create  more  interest,  and  hold  the  attention  of  a  great 
crowd  more  than  I  can  in  preaching  Christ  and  Him 
crucified,  TU  know  it's  time  for  me  to  be  off. 


Don't  be  afraid  to  use  your  light.  Don't  turn  it  down 
as  you  do  the  gas  to  keep  the  meter  from  running  so 
fast.  I  hate  to  visit  in  the  home  in  which  there  is  a 
fussy  woman  following  you  around,  turning  down  the 
gas.  Let  your  light  burn  full  and  bright  so  that  every- 
body can  see  it,  and  be  made  happier  by  it.  You  ought 
to  live  so  that  every  one  who  comes  near  you  will  know 
that  you  are  a  Christian  ?  Do  you  ?  Does  your  milkman 
know  that  you  are  a  Christian?  Does  the  man  who 
brings  your  laundry  know  that  you  belong  to  church? 
Does  the  man  who  hauls  away  your  ashes  know  that 
you  are  a  Christian?  Does  your  newsboy  know  that 
you  have  religion?  Does  the  butcher  know  that  you 
are  on  your  way  to  heaven?  Some  of  you  buy  meat  on 
Saturday  night,  and  have  him  deliver  it  Sunday  morn- 
ing, just  to  save  a  little  ice,  and  then  you  wonder  why 
he  doesn't  go  to  church. 

If  you  had  to  get  into  heaven  on  the  testimony  of 
your  washerwoman,  could  you  make  it?  If  your  getting 
into  heaven  depended  on  what  your  dressmaker  knows 
about  your  religion,  would  you  land?  If  your  husband 
had  to  gain  admittance  to  heaven  on  the  testimony  of 
his  stenographer,  could  he  do  it?     If  his  salvation  de- 


132  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

pended  on  what  his  clerks  tell  about  him,  would  he  get 
there?  A  man  ought  to  be  as  religious  in  business  as  he 
is  in  church.  He  ought  to  be  as  religious  in  buying  and 
selling  as  he  is  in  praying. 

There  are  so  many  church  members  who  are  not  even 
known  in  their  own  neighborhood  as  Christians.  Out 
in  Iowa  v/here  a  meeting  was  being  held,  a  man  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  would  try  to  get  an  old  sinner  into 
the  kingdom,  and  after  chasing  him  around  for  three 
days  he  finally  cornered  him.  Then  he  talked  to  that 
old  fellow  for  two  hours,  and  then  the  old  scoundrel 
stroked  his  whiskers,  and  what  do  you  think  he  said? 
*'  Why,  IVe  been  a  member  of  the  church  down  there 
for  fourteen  years."  Just  think  of  it!  A  member  of 
the  church  for  fourteen  years,  and  a  man  had  to  chase 
him  three  days,  and  talk  with  him  for  two  hours  to  find 
it  out. — Sermon  on  ''Let  your  light  shine." 


Billy  Sunday's  sermons  are  like  life  itself.  Tears  and 
smiles  and  sighs  and  laughter;  the  solemn  and  the  ab- 
surd, the  commonplace  and  the  exalted  are  mingled  to- 
gether and  go  to  m^ake  up  the  whole.  He  is  tlie  human- 
est  preacher  in  the  world,  and  like  Jesus,  he  understands 
the  value  of  homely  illustration,  and  the  force  that  can 
be  conveyed  by  gentle  sarcasm. 

One  of  his  strongest  points  last  night  was  illustrated 
by  a  ridiculous  description  of  the  oldtime  ''  spare  bed- 
room/' that  cold,  formal  and  nightmare  breeding 
atrocity  of  the  *'  hospitality  "  of  our  fathers.  The  audi- 
ence fairly  ached  with  laughter,  but  the  evangelist's 
lesson  was  impressed  as  profoundly  as  if  he  had  thun- 
dered anathemas  all  the  while ;  for  after  he  had  made 
the  vision  of  that  fearsome  old  spare  bedroom  complete, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERINIONS  133 

he  suddenly  turned  upon  church  members  of  the  merely- 
formal  kind,  and  told  them : 

"  You  have  let  Jesus  in  ?  Yes,  but  you  have  put  Him 
in  the  spare  room.  You  don't  want  Him  in  the  rooms 
where  you  live.  Take  Him  down  into  the  living  room. 
Take  Him  into  the  dining  room.  Take  Him  into  the 
parlor.  Take  Him  into  the  kitchen.  Live  with  Him. 
Make  Him  one  of  the  family." 

Then  followed  a  Sundayesque  description  of  how 
Jesus  would  find  beer  in  the  refrigerator  and  throw  it 
out.  How  He  would  find  cards  on  the  table  and  throw 
them  out.  How  He  would  find  nasty  music  on  the  piano 
and  throw  it  out.  How  he  would  find  cigarettes  and 
throw  them  out. 

"If  you  haven't  Jesus  in  the  rooms  you  live  in,  it's 
because  you  don't  want  Him,"  he  said.  "  You're  afraid 
of  one  of  two  things :  You're  afraid  because  of  the  things 
He'll  throw  out  if  He  comes  in,  or  you're  afraid  because 
of  the  things  He'll  bring  with  Him  if  He  comes  in." — 
Times,  McKeesport,  Pa. 


Sunday  was  talking  on  Peter's  preaching  at  Pentecost, 
having  read  these  verses  from  the  second  chapter  of 
Acts :  "  Others  mocking  said.  These  men  are  full  of  new 
wine.  But  Peter  standing  up  with  the  eleven,  lifted  up 
his  voice,  and  said  unto  them :  Ye  men  of  Judea,  and  all 
ye  that  dwell  at  Jerusalem,  be  this  known  unto  you,  and 
hearken  to  my  words :  for  these  are  not  drunken  as  ye 
suppose,  seeing  it  is  but  the  third  hour  of  the  day." 

"  The  devil  has  been  gaining  on  this  wicked  old  world 
ever  since  Peter  said  those  words.  Peter  couldn't  use 
that  argument  now.  '  They're  drunk ! '  said  the  loafers, 
looking  on.    '  Drunk  nothing,'  said  Peter.    '  They're  not 


134  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

drunk.  Why,  look  at  the  time!  It's  only  about  nine 
o'clock.  Nobody  gets  drunk  in  the  morning  nowadays. 
It  will  be  two  thousand  years  before  men  get  so  rotten 
they  will  take  to  drinking  before  breakfast,  and  to  swill- 
ing booze  all  the  morning,  and  to  staying  drunk  twenty- 
four  hours  in  the  day.  No;  you're  off;  away  off. 
They're  not  drunk.  They're  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
God.'  If  Peter  could  come  back,  and  the  same  thing  were 
to  happen,  how  do  you  like  the  thought  that  he  would 
have  to  find  a  new  argument  ?  " 


"  To  one  who  has  not  attended  a  Billy  Sunday  re- 
vival/' said  the  American  Magazine,  some  time  ago, 
""  the  story  of  the  methods  by  which  he  achieves  such 
great  results  seems  almost  incredible.  But  by  his  works 
you  must  know  him.  In  cold  type,  some  of  his  sermons 
and  prayers  are  of  a  sort  to  make  all  New  England 
shiver  with  horror,  and  cause  the  ungodly  to  giggle. 
But  they  make  converts.  The  converts  become  church 
members,  and  the  army  of  salvation  is  augmented  by 
thousands  of  recruits.  Finicky  critics  must  consider 
carefully  before  they  deplore  Billy  Sunday.  It  has  been 
our  habit  for  centuries  to  discuss  religion  and  the  affairs 
of  the  soul  in  a  King  James  vocabulary,  and  to  depart 
from  that  custom  has  come  to  seem  something  like  sacri- 
lege. Billy  Sunday  talks  to  people  about  God  and  their 
souls  just  as  men  talk  to  one  another  six  days  in  the 
week  across  the  counter  or  the  dinner  table,  or  the  street. 
Listen  to  a  bit  of  a  sermon  of  his  on  the  devil : 

"  *  The  devil  isn't  anybody's  fool.  You  can  bank  on 
that.  Plenty  of  folks  will  tell  you  there  isn't  any  devil. 
That  he  is  just  a  figure  of  speech;  a  poetic  personifica- 
tion of  the  sin  in  our  natures.     People  who  say  that — 


AS   HE   LOOKS   TO-DAY. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  SERMONS  135 

and  especially  all  the  time-serving  hypocritical  ministers 
who  say  it,  are  liars.  They  are  calling  the  holy  Bible 
a  lie.  I'll  believe  the  Bible  before  I'll  believe  a  lot  of 
time-serving,  societyfiecl,  tea-drinking,  smirking  preach- 
ers. No,  sir!  You  take  God's  word  for  it,  there  is  a 
devil,  and  a  big  one,  too. 

"  *  Oh,  but  the  devil  is  a  smooth  guy !  He  always  was, 
and  he  is  now.  He  is  right  on  his  job  all  the  time, 
winter  and  summer.  Just  as  he  appeared  to  Christ  in 
the  wilderness,  he  is  right  here  in  this  tabernacle  now, 
trying  to  make  you  sinners  indifferent  to  Christ's  sacri- 
fice for  your  salvation.  When  the  invitation  is  given, 
and  you  start  to  get  up,  and  then  settle  back  into  your 
seat,  and  say,  "  I  guess  I  don't  want  to  give  way  to  a 
temporary  impulse,"  that's  the  real,  genuine,  blazing-eyed, 
cloven-hoofed,  forked-tailed  old  devil,  hanging  to  your 
coat  tails.  He  knows  all  your  weaknesses,  and  how  to 
appeal  to  them. 

"  '  He  knows  about  you,  and  how  you  have  spent  sixty 
dollars  in  the  last  two  years  for  tobacco,  to  make  your 
home  and  the  streets  filthy,  and  that  you  haven't  bought 
your  wife  a  new  dress  in  two  years,  because  you  "  can't 
afford  it."  And  he  knows  about  you,  and  the  time  and 
money  you  spend  on  fool  hats  and  card  parties,  doing 
what  you  call  *'  getting  into  society,"  while  your  husband 
is  being  driven  away  from  home  by  badly  cooked  meals, 
and  your  children  are  running  loose  on  the  streets,  learn- 
ing to  be  hoodlums. 

" '  And  he  knows  about  you,  too,  sir,  and  what  you 
get  when  you  go  back  of  the  drug  store  prescription 
counter  to  "  buy  medicine  for  your  sick  baby."  And 
he  knows  about  you  and  that  girl  you  are  living  with 
in  sin.  And  he  knows  about  you  and  the  lie  you  told 
about  the  girl  across  the  street,  because  she  is  sweeter 


136  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

and  truer  than  you  are,  and  the  boys  go  to  see  her  and 
keep  away  from  you — you  miserable  thrower  of  slime, 
dug  out  of  your  own  heart  of  envy — yes,  indeed,  the 
devil  knows  all  about  you/  " 


It  was  the  last  night  of  the  meeting,  and  Sunday  was 
preaching  his  last  sermon  from  the  text :  "  And  he  said 
to-morrow." 

"  To-night  when  the  last  song  is  sung,  the  last  prayer 
has  been  said,  and  we  have  all  passed  out  into  the  night, 
and  the  lights  have  been  switched  off,  and  the  place 
is  dark,  your  chance,  sinner,  will  be  gone !  If  your 
heart  is  not  soft  before  then,  it  is  hardly  likely  that  it 
will  ever  be  so  nearly  won  again.  You  say  in  your  heart, 
^  To-morrow ! '  but  at  daylight  the  doctor's  buggy  may 
be  standing  at  your  gate,  the  family  may  be  grouped 
around  your  bed,  with  handkerchiefs  at  their  eyes.  The 
doctor,  turning  to  them,  may  say,  '  He  is  gone.'  The 
undertaker  may  come  and  do  his  work.  The  friends 
may  corrte  and  listen  to  such  kind  w^ords  as  may  be 
spoken  of  you,  and  then,  as  Mr.  Moody  once  said  of  a 
man  who  died  in  spite  of  his  prayers,  they  may  take  you, 
a  Christless  corpse,  in  a  Christless  coffin,  and  lay  you 
in  a  Christless  grave !  O  friends !  if  the  Lord  would 
draw  back  the  veil  which  is  between  some  of  you  and 
your  coffin,  you  would  leap  back  in  horror,  to  find  it  so 
near  that  you  could  reach  out  and  touch  it.  But  you 
say,  *  To-morrow ! '  " 


XIII 

A  PRESENT-DAY  SUNDAY  TABERNACLE 
MEETING 

YOU  are  a  stranger  in  the  city,  have  never  seen  one 
of  Sunday's  meetings,  and  know  nothing  about 
the  man  or  his  methods,  except  what  rumor  has 
told  you.  The  hotel  clerk  has  been  telling  you  so  much 
about  how  Sunday  has  taken  the  town  that  you  are 
going  to-night  to  see  and  hear  and  judge  for  yourself. 
From  what  you  have  heard  you  know  that  you  must 
go  early  to  make  sure  of  a  seat.  So  you  set  out  in  good 
time,  you  think,  but  when  you  reach  the  tabernacle  you 
find  that  a  couple  of  thousand  or  more  are  there  before 
you,  and  stand  waiting  for  the  doors  to  open.  The 
throng  grows  rapidly,  and  soon  becomes  a  surging  multi- 
tude of  many  thousands.  From  what  you  have  heard 
at  the  hotel,  you  know  that  in  the  great  crowd  about 
you  are  men  and  women  of  high  and  low  estate,  rich  and 
poor,  the  prominent  people  of  the  city,  and  the  humble 
and  obscure.  All  meet  on  a  common  level  here.  Neither 
birth,  wealth  nor  talent  makes  any  difference,  so  far  as 
obtaining  a  good  seat  is  concerned.  Sunday  is  continu- 
ally beset  with  all  kinds  of  propositions  from  those  who 
would  secure  reserved  seats  for  themselves,  but  rejects 
them  all.  Many  would  be  glad  to  pay  well  for  the 
privilege,  but  money  gives  no  man  any  advantage  over 
another    at    the    tabernacle.     Special    delegations    have 

137 


138  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

reservations  on  special  nights,  but  no  personal  favors  of 
that  kind  can  be  obtained. 

While  you  stand  waiting,  you  notice  that  the  crowd 
about  you  is  good-natured,  for  nobody  finds  fault  or 
complains  of  discomfort.  You  notice,  too,  that  every 
one  is  talking  about  the  meeting,  and  from  what  you 
hear  you  gain  further  information  as  you  wait. 

At  length  the  doors  swing  open,  and  you  find  yourself 
gathered  up  with  the  throng  and  rushed  into  the  big 
building.  A  large  corps  of  well-trained  ushers  are  in 
their  places — each  man  in  charge  of  a  rather  small  sec- 
tion— and  you  are  astonished  at  the  ease  and  promptness 
with  which  they  have  the  surging  mass  under  control 
and  properly  seated.  As  you  drop  into  the  seat  that  has 
come  to  you  in  the  shuffle,  and  begin  to  look  about,  you 
find  yourself  going  from  one  surprise  to  another.  You 
little  expected  to  find  the  scene  so  bright  and  attractive. 
You  came  looking  for  a  great  barnlike  structure,  as  dimly 
lighted  as  a  street  car,  but,  wonder  of  wonders,  how  you 
did  miss  it ! 

You  are  in  the  largest  room  you  ever  saw,  and  the 
whole  scene  is  glorious  with  electric  light  and  bunting. 
Look  where  you  will,  the  brightness  dazzles  you,  and 
cheers  one  like  the  glad  springtime,  for  Sunday  found 
out  a  long  while  ago  that  God  hates  darkness.  Trying 
to  have  a  revival  where  you  cannot  see  to  read  a  hymn 
is  like  backing  up  hill  with  a  heavy  load,  he  thinks,  and 
so  he  requires  the  tabernacle  to  be  one  of  the  most 
brilliantly  lighted  places  in  the  city. 

The  building  you  have  entered  will  seat  about  ten 
thousand,  and  there  is  standing  room  for  two  or  three 
thousand  more,  all  of  which  will  soon  be  needed,  for 
no  Sunday  campaign  has  ever  yet  been  held  where  ample 
room  could  be  provided  for  all  who  desired  to  attend 


MR.    AND    MRS.    SUNDAY, 
HELEN,    "  BILLY  "    JR.,    GEORGE,    PAUL. 


A  PRESENT-DAY  MEETING  139 

some  of  the  meetings.  In  all  the  history  of  great  reli- 
gious awakenings  this  has  never  been  so  generally  true 
of  any  other  evangelist. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  arrest  your  attention  is  a 
long  white  banner,  stretched  over  the  platform,  on  which 
has  been  painted  in  the  blackest  kind  of  capital  letters, 
almost  three  feet  high,  the  startling  legend — 

''GET  RIGHT  WITH  GOD!" 

As  you  wait  for  the  meeting  to  begin,  you  find  your- 
self receiving  more  information  from  those  on  either  side 
of  you.  On  your  right  is  a  man  with  a  Daniel  Webster 
looking  head  and  face,  who  tells  you  that  he  never  saw 
anything  so  astonishing  in  all  his  life — never;  and  the 
red-faced  woman  on  your  left,  who  has  a  way  of  pad- 
ding out  her  talk  with  ''  a-n-d,"  says  that  she  never  in 
all  her  born  days  heard  such  preaching  as  was  done  right 
there  before  her  eyes  last  night. 

Just  then  you  notice  a  slender,  medium-sized,  wiry 
man,  in  a  natty  suit  of  clothes,  with  the  vigor  of  youth 
in  every  move.  He  comes  swinging  down  one  of  the 
cross  aisles,  shaking  hands  with  the  ushers,  and  now  and 
then  pausing  a  moment  to  bend  over  and  speak  to  some 
one  in  a  seat.  Those  around  you  are  all  alert  now,  and 
you  hear  many  of  them  say — 

"  Here  he  comes  !  " 

"That's  Sunday!" 

''  That's  him !  " 

"  There's  Billy !  " 

Then  after  he  has  reached  the  front  and  gone  over 
to  shake  hands  with  the  reporters,  and  some  of  the  min- 
isters, who  have  a  lower  corner  of  the  platform  to  them- 
selves, you  begin  to  look  around  again,  and  the  man  at 


140  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

your  side  points  out  different  members  of  the  Sunday 
party,  and  tells  you  something  of  their  various  duties. 

But  the  hour  has  come  for  the  meeting  to  begin,  and 
it  starts  on  time,  with  a  song  service  of  a  half-hour  or 
more,  in  which  the  singing  is  full  of  life  and  enthusiasm. 
On  the  platform,  rising  in  many  tiers,  is  a  chorus  choir 
of  several  hundred  voices.  The  singing  alone  is  an 
experience  you  will  mark  with  a  white  stone,  for  it  can 
never  be  forgotten. 

Many  of  the  best  singers  of  the  city  are  in  the  choir, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  better  music  is  ever  heard  in  a 
religious  meeting  anywhere.  You  find  it  interesting  to 
note  how  the  vast  congregation  is  affected  by  it.  You  see 
no  inattention  anywhere,  and  many,  you  notice,  are 
deeply  impressed.  The  director  of  the  great  chorus  thor- 
oughly understands  his  business,  not  only  giving  fine 
expression  to  the  music,  but  inspiring  each  voice  to  do 
its  best. 

You  have  been  closely  watching  the  platform  from 
which  Mr.  Sunday  is  to  preach;  on  one  end  of  which 
he  now  sits  alone,  and  with  eyes  alert,  sees  everything 
all  over  the  house.  From  a  mental  calculation  you  have 
been  making,  you  estimate  the  platform  to  be  near 
twenty  feet  long,  from  five  to  six  feet  high,  and  about 
eight  feet  wide,  and  later  on  you  discover  that  every 
inch  of  it  is  needed. 

Soon  after  being  swept  into  the  meeting,  you  notice 
that  quite  a  large  space  in  front  has  been  roped  off, 
and  you  ask  the  man  at  your  side  the  reason  therefor. 
Three  or  four  nights  each  week,  he  tells  you,  a  similar 
space  is  reserved  for  delegations  from  various  lodges, 
labor  unions,  stores,  factories,  clubs  and  other  societies. 
There  is  great  strife,  you  learn,  among  all  kinds  of 
organizations  for  choice  reservations,  and  some  are  kept 


A  PRESENT-DAY  MEETING  141 

for  several  days  on  the  waiting  list;  another  evidence, 
you  think,  of  the  unaccountable  hold  the  meetings  have 
on  the  city.  You  also  learn  that  Billy  gives  a  few  min- 
utes of  special  talk  to  each  delegation,  and  it  generally 
happens  that  many  of  those  who  occupy  reserved  seats 
go  forward  when  the  invitation  is  given.  In  one  case 
that  happened  quite  recently,  you  are  told,  every  man  in 
a  certain  lodge  reservation  went  forward  but  three. 

Presently  you  catch  the  "  Tap — tap — tap !  "  of  a  drum- 
beat, and  the  sound  of  marching  feet  comes  to  your  ear. 
Then  there  is  great  cheering  as  a  body  of  old  soldiers 
comes  down  the  aisle,  following  the  flag,  proudly  borne 
by  a  grizzled  veteran  who  has  but  one  arm.  The  other 
he  left  at  Gettysburg.  Other  delegations  now  file  in, 
most  of  them  with  banners  giving  their  names,  and  soon 
all  the  reserved  space  has  been  filled. 

Sunday  comes  down  from  his  high  platform  and 
greets  several  of  the  veterans,  going  first  to  the  color- 
bearer,  for  the  sight  of  the  "  old  boys  "  has  touched  a 
tender  place  with  him.  His  father  marched  away  to  the 
drumbeat,  and  never  came  back. 

When  all  things  have  settled  down  to  their  former 
condition,  the  woman  at  your  left  tells  you  she  would 
have  reached  the  meeting  sooner,  but  that  she  had  to 
stop  and  check  her  baby.  You  regard  her  in  speechless 
wonder  for  a  moment,  and  then  ask  what  she  means. 
She  is  so  fluent  in  conversational  ability  that  it  takes 
her  quite  a  while  to  tell  you,  but  at  last  you  learn  that 
no  children  under  four  can  be  taken  into  the  tabernacle. 
And  this  is  not  because  Sunday  is  opposed  to  little  folks, 
but  for  the  reason  that  it  has  been  found  best  for  the 
meeting  to  keep  all  babies  out.  A  suitable  place,  con- 
yenient  to  the  tabernacle,  is  therefore  always  provided, 
in  v/hich  babies  and  small  children  are  checked  and  cared 


142  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

for  by  nurses  and  other  competent  attendants,  leaving 
their  mothers  free  to  enjoy  the  meeting.  Every  usher 
is  charged  by  his  chief  to  see  that  the  rule  in  regard  to 
small  children  is  not  broken,  and  yet  in  spite  of  the 
most  careful  scrutiny  it  sometimes  happens  that  one 
gets  in. 

"  But  how  old  do  the  babies  have  to  be  before  they 
can  be  checked  ?  "  you  ask  the  woman. 

"  Oh,  that  don't  make  any  difference  at  all ;  not  a 
bit,''  she  answers.  "  Why,  there  was  one  little  mite  that 
was  only  four  weeks  old  when  they  first  begun  to  check 
it  three  weeks  ago,  and  I  don't  believe  it's  missed  a  single 
meeting  yet.  My  baby  is  six  months  old,  and  I  don't 
get  to  check  it  only  four  nights  a  week;  though  they 
would  check  it  every  night,  and  welcome  to  me,  if  I 
could  only  come.  Dear  me;  how  I  wish  I  could.  But 
when  you  have  boarders  and  three  other  children  you 
can't  do  everything  you  want  to !  " 

After  a  few  songs,  in  which  the  musical  director 
has  managed  by  one  artful  device  or  another  to  make 
about  everybody  take  some  part,  except  a  solemn-faced 
reporter,  who  sits  at  his  desk  looking  as  if  another 
steamer  had  gone  down  with  all  his  friends  on  board, 
the  opening  prayer  is  made  by  one  of  the  local  clergy, 
and  then  the  singing  is  resumed. 

After  two  or  three  more  songs,  the  time  has  come  for 
taking  the  collection,  a  most  important  part  of  every 
meeting,  until  after  all  the  current  expenses  have  been 
provided  for  in  this  way.  You  are  astonished  at  the 
.rapidity  with  v/hich  the  task  of  waiting  on  the  great  con- 
gregation is  accomplished,  for  it  is  all  over  within  five 
minutes.  In  this  part  of  the  meeting  every  one  is  ex- 
pected to  have  a  part,  and  from  what  you  presently  see 
and  hear  you  believe  that  they  do. 


A  PRESENT-DAY  MEETING  143 

The  taking  of  the  offering  is  introduced  by  a  few 
pertinent  and  good-natured  remarks  from  Sunday,  punc- 
tuated with  laughter  by  the  congregation,  as  he  con- 
cludes with  the  well-understood  expression — 

''  Dig  up!" 

You  have  noticed  a  bright  new  milk  pan  hanging 
on  every  post,  and  have  wondered  what  its  use  might 
be.  You  are  now  going  to  find  out.  Each  usher  takes 
down  a  pan  and  sets  it  going  through  the  rows  in  his 
section.  In  this  way  the  large  expense  of  the  meeting — 
aggregating  many  thousands  of  dollars — is  provided  for. 
Not  a  dollar  of  this  money  goes  to  the  evangelist,  for 
all  his  remuneration  comes  from  free  will  offerings  given 
him  on  the  last  Sunday. 

After  more  singing  by  the  choir,  Sunday  takes  his 
place  directly  back  of  the  pulpit  desk,  about  eighteen 
inches  from  it  His  Bible  lies  wide  open  on  the  stand 
before  him,  and  from  it  he  reads  his  text.  His  voice 
seems  husky,  almost  hoarse,  but  his  words  ring  out,  and 
reach  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  enclosed  and  roofed-in 
acre  called  "  the  tabernacle."  He  stands  with  both  hands 
hanging  straight  down,  and  his  open  palms  tightly 
pressed  against  his  sides.  He  is  wearing  a  dark  blue 
sack  suit  of  two  pieces,  without  the  ghost  of  a  wrinkle 
showing  anywhere.  Last  night  he  wore  a  light  gray 
suit  of  the  same  style,  the  woman  tells  you,  and  the 
night  before  that  a  rich  brown. 

As  the  first  words  of  the  text  are  announced  his 
muscles  become  rigid,  and  then  he  bends  backward  as 
if  about  to  throw  a  somersault.  The  manner  of  the 
preacher  at  the  start  is  in  a  sense  mild,  and  yet  it  is  also 
vigorous  in  this,  that  everybody  knows  he  is  in  earnest 
from  the  top  of  his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet.  He  is 
not  violent;  he  does  not  speak  unduly  loud;  there  is 


144r  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

nothing  approaching  a  strain  in  his  voice.  On  the  other 
hand,  were  it  not  for  his  hoarseness,  you  would  say  that 
he  is  speaking  with  perfect  ease,  and  yet  there  is  some- 
thing about  him  that  makes  you  feel  that  he  will  soon 
be  hurling  thunderbolts.  As  he  proceeds,  the  conviction 
grows  upon  you  that  the  preacher  whose  words  have 
stirred  you  from  the  start,  has  a  personality  most  ex- 
traordinar}^  You  try  to  discover  why  you  are  already 
so  alive  with  interest,  and  soon  have  to  admit  that  you 
cannot.  It  is  not  so  much  in  what  is  being  said.  It 
is  not  in  the  words  with  which  the  thoughts  of  the 
speaker  are  expressed.  It  is  not  in  the  manner  in  which 
the  things  you  hear  are  being  said.  No,  not  in  any  of 
these ;  but  it  must  be,  you  feel,  in  the  strange  compelling 
power  of  the  personality  that  is  back  of  what  is  being 
said.  The  man  is  not,  in  any  sense  you  can  define, 
so  much  unlike  others  you  have  seen  and  heard,  and 
yet  in  spite  of  this  you  are  forced  into  the  conviction 
that  he  is  in  everything  remarkably  distinctive.  You 
find  your  wits  continually  baffled  in  trying  to  solve  the 
riddle,  until  you  finally  give  it  up  as  a  hopeless  task, 
and  for  the  remainder  of  the  hour  devote  your  attention 
solely  to  what  is  being  said. 

Sunday  preaches  for  a  little  more  than  an  hour,  and 
you  listen  with  almost  breathless  interest  from  the  first 
sentence  to  the  last.  Soon  he  quickens  his  pace,  and  both 
the  highbrow  and  the  woman  whose  baby  is  in  the  check- 
room nudge  you  and  say  that  he  is  "  warming  up.'*  This 
is  not  information  to  you,  for  you  can  see  the  perspira- 
tion streaming  down  his  face,  and  his  collar  begins  to 
look  as  if  it  had  seen  better  days.  Soon  he  is  raining 
great  sledge-hammer  blows  upon  the  unoffending  pulpit 
desk,  as  he  drives  home  his  points,  and  people  near  you 
start  as  if  they  had  been  shot  at. 


A  PRESENT-DAY  MEETING  145 

There  is  but  one  word  at  your  command  that  will 
even  remotely  indicate  his  manner,  and  that  word  is 
Action  !  At  one  moment  he  is  at  one  end  of  his  long 
platform,  and  before  you  become  used  to  seeing  him 
there  he  is  at  the  other,  and  then  quicker  than  thought 
he  bounds  back  to  the  center,  giving  the  desk  a  solar 
plexus  blow  that  would  knock  out  a  giant.  Ever  and 
anon  he  makes  long  rapid  strides  to  give  it  more  whacks, 
until  at  last  a  big  piece  splits  off  and  bounds  to  the 
sawdust  floor  below,  at  which  every  small  boy  in  the 
front  row  jumps  and  says — 

"  Gee ! " 

Soon  the  preacher's  face  is  hot  and  red  and  streaming, 
and  the  steam  guage  is  mounting  upward  rapidly.  As  he 
denounces  sin — and  the  very  kind  you  at  once  recognize 
as  your  own — his  eyes  fairly  blaze.  He  goes  on,  in  a 
way  that  can  only  be  described  as  awful,  to  picture  the 
fate  of  the  unrepentant  sinner,  and  you  feel  that  you 
know  just  how  the  old  Hebrew  prophets  looked.  There 
is  no  "  in  a  degree,"  "  to  some  extent ''  or  ''  as  it  were  " 
business  about  the  hell  that  Billy  Sunday  preaches.  He 
pulls  off  the  lid  so  that  you  can  almost  feel  the  fire  and 
smell  the  smoke  and  hear  the  gnashing  of  teeth,  and 
charges  you  to  remember  that  it  was  not  made  for  you, 
but  was  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  and  that 
Almighty  God  is  doing  His  best  to  keep  you  from  rolling 
into  it. 

You  begin  to  understand  why  Sunday  Is  so  tre- 
mendously in  earnest  in  his  evangelistic  efforts,  and  why 
he  must  keep  on  the  go  from  year's  end  to  year's  end 
without  rest,  in  the  nerve-racking  way  you  have  wit- 
nessed. It  is  because  he  goes  into  the  Bible  for  his 
preaching,  and  believes  every  word  of  his  own  sermon 
as  certainly  as  the  fearless  old  Tishbite  believed  that 


146  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

fire  would  fall  from  heaven  just  as  he  had  declared  it 
would. 

Were  it  not  for  his  unswerving  belief  that  the  state- 
ments of  the  Bible  have  come  as  direct  from  the  God 
above  us  as  the  rain  and  snow  come  down  from  the 
clouds,  and  that  the  prophecies  that  have  not  already- 
been  fulfilled  will  be  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  Billy  Sunday 
would  have  been  swept  down  long  ago,  by  the  princi- 
palities and  powers  of  evil  that  have  from  the  beginning 
of  his  religious  career  been  doing  their  very  worst 
against  him. 

But  the  wonderful  sermon  is  ended.  The  preacher 
leans  over  his  much-abused  desk,  seemingly  limp  and 
exhausted,  and  as  you  glance  about  you  see  a  pallor  on 
many  faces.  The  conclusion  comes  abruptly,  with  a 
prayer  that  power  shall  be  given  to  the  message  spoken, 
and  that  many  will  repent  and  turn  to  Christ.  This 
prayer  is  the  signal  to  the  ushers  to  quietly  clear  the 
first  rows  of  seats  in  front  of  the  platform,  and  then  as 
it  is  finished,  Sunday,  in  a  tone  marked  by  strong  feeling, 
says : 

You  know  that  God  has  spoken  to  you.  You  know 
that  without  Christ  you  are  lost,  and  that  with  him  you 
are  saved.  You  know  your  duty  and  your  privilege ;  and 
now  without  another  word  from  me,  and  before  any 
one  can  have  a  chance  to  say  anything  to  you,  how  many 
of  you  will  settle  the  great  question  without  the  delay 
of  another  minute,  by  coming  forward  to  take  me  by 
the  hand,  and  by  doing  so  confess  and  accept  Jesus  Christ 
Ws  your  personal  Saviour  ?    Who  will  come  ?  '' 

What  seems  to  be  a  long  pause  follows,  but  it  is  less 
than  thirty  seconds,  and  then,  half-way  down  the  aisle, 
a  man  rises  and  walks  quickly  toward  the  front.  Before 
he  has  gone  twenty  paces  a  v/oman,  with  streaks  of  gray 


r 


A  PRESENT-DAY  MEETING  147, 

in  her  hair,  edges  her  way  out  into  the  aisle  and  follows, 
and  then  come  two  little  girls  and  four  men,  one  of 
whom  is  the  one-armed  veteran  who  carried  the  flag. 
Now  they  have  started  in  another  aisle,  and  so  they 
follow  each  other  in  solemnity  and  quiet,  for  there  is  no 
singing,  tmtil  several  score  have  gone  forward.  Then 
there  is  a  lull,  and  the  personal  workers  are  told  to  go 
out.  They  quickly  and  quietly  scatter  all  over  the  house. 
Three  more  of  the  veterans  go  forward,  and  in  ones 
and  twos  and  threes  and  fours,  and  then  in  larger 
groups  down  all  the  aisles  seekers  begin  to  move,  and 
as  they  thus  move  forward  the  preacher's  face  fairly 
shines. 

There  is  singing  now,  and  it  is  continued  until  all 
who  will  have  come,  the  ushers  meantime  skillfully  keep- 
ing the  aisles  open,  and  the  request  is  made  that  no  one 
shall  leave  the  building  at  this  stage  of  the  meeting. 

Three  rows  clear  across  the  central  section  have  been 
filled,  and  then  four,  and  now  five,  and  still  they  come. 
Then  after  another  row  or  two  is  filled,  Sunday  gives"] 
those  before  him  clear  instruction  as  to  how  to  make  I 
their  beginning  in  Christian  life.  Then  he  prays  that 
they  may  be  divinely  helped  and  guided ;  find  the  right 
church  home,  and  have  grace  to  meet  every  obligation 
and  duty  as  Christian  men,  women  and  children. 

The  secretaries  have  them  sign  the  decision  cards, 
giving  their  names,  street  address  and  church  prefer- 
ence. While  this  is  going  on  the  city  pastors  are  on 
their  honor  not  to  approach  any  one  until  the  cards  have 
been  signed.  There  is  then  a  great  deal  of  handshaking, 
and  by  this  the  meeting  is  generally  dismissed  without 
a  formal  benediction.  While  the  last  song  is  being  sung, 
Sunday,  who  is  wet  to  the  skin,  from  his  hour  of  more 
than  strenuous  exertion,  puts  on  his  overcoat  and  stands 


148  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

leaning  over  the  pulpit  desk  looking  down  upon  the 
busy  scene  before  him.  It  is  near  ten  o'clock,  but  he  is 
a  poor  sleeper,  and  seldom  retires  before  midnight. 

The  foregoing  is  a  true  picture,  and  typical  of  the  many 
mammoth  meetings  that  are  held  each  year. 


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XIV 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  CONNECTED  WITH  THE 
SUNDAY  MEETINGS 

SUNDAY'S  corps  of  helpers  consists  of  nearly  a 
dozen  people,  made  up  of  both  men  and  women. 
His  wife  is  with  him  most  of  the  time  in  nearly 
every  meeting,  and  she  is  of  course  his  best  helper. 

In  general,  arrangements  are  made  so  that  the  men  of 
the  party  can  live  together  under  one  roof,  and  so  keep 
up  something  of  home  life.  The  ladies  generally  have 
rooms  in  homes  near  by,  so  that  all  can  have  meals  at 
the  same  table.  It  is  also  an  advantage  in  many  ways, 
for  them  to  be  close  together.  Whenever  it  can  be  done, 
the  Executive  Committee  rents  a  large  furnished  house,, 
and  employs  a  housekeeper  and  other  needed  help. 
When  this  is  not  done,  Sunday  finds  it  difficult  to  get 
the  time  he  needs  for  rest  and  work.  His  correspondence 
alone  is  heavy  and  burdensome,  for  although  he  has  a 
most  efficient  secretary,  so  much  of  it  requires  his  own 
personal  attention. 

In  connection  with  the  great  meetings  are  many  spe- 
cial features  that  require  skilled  supervision  and  con- 
stant oversight,  and  no  little  downright  hard  work  on 
the  part  of  every  member  of  the  party.  The  first  and 
most  important  of  these  are  the  cottage  prayer  meetings, 
about  a  hundred  or  more  of  which  are  held,  in  the  larger 
places,  every  morning  at  ten  o'clock. 

These  are  the  spiritual  life  of  the  great  meetings.    To 

149 


150  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

have  them  go  on  successfully  and  profitably  is  no  small 
task,  and  in  this  the  local  pastors  can  give  much  help. 
The  city  is  divided  into  districts  of  a  few  blocks  each, 
in  every  one  of  which  a  prayer  meeting  is  held  daily. 
The  aim  is  to  have  these  meetings  held  in  different 
homes  each  morning,  and  not  in  the  same  ones  contin- 
uously. There  is  also  a  daily  change  in  the  leaders. 
In  the  choosing  of  leaders  care  must  be  taken,  not  only 
to  have  those  who  will  be  spiritual  and  competent,  but 
who  will  also  be  prompt  and  punctual,  and  see  that  the 
meetings  begin  and  close  on  time.  It  has  been  found 
an  advantage  to  hold  as  many  of  these  meetings  as  pos- 
sible in  the  homes  of  non-Christians. 

Another  feature  that  has  much  to  do  with  the  success 
of  the  great  meetings  is  the  holding  of  meetings  in  shops 
and  factories  during  the  noon  hour.  The  men  in  the 
shops  take  much  interest  in  these  meetings,  and  are 
glad  to  have  them  as  often  as  they  can  be  held.  At 
each  one  there  is  good  singing  and  a  short  address,  made 
by  Sunday  or  one  of  his  assistants.  Sometimes  meetings 
are  also  held  for  the  clerks  in  the  larger  stores.  Nu- 
merous meetings  are  held  in  the  schools,  and  Sunday's 
educational  talks  are  among  the  best  and  most  practical 
he  gives.  By  them  many  young  lives  have  been  turned 
into  better  channels. 

One  very  important  special  feature  is  the  work  that 
is  done  among  women  of  several  classes :  Business 
women,  factory  girls,  maids,  society  women,  wives, 
mothers,  schoolgirls,  etc.  One  of  Sunday's  women  as- 
sistants holds  meetings  for  the  business  women — stenog- 
raphers, clerks,  bookkeepers,  etc.,  in  which  they  are  or- 
ganized into  classes  and  given  special  help  and  instruc- 
tion in  Bible  study  and  other  matters  pertaining  to  young 
women.    These  meetings  are  held  during  the  noon  hour, 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  151 

and  luncheon  is  provided  for  them  three  days  in  the  week. 
The  attendance  upon  these  runs  from  four  hundred  to 
a  thousand  daily,  according  to  size  of  city. 

Another  young  woman  assistant  holds  meetings  at  noon- 
time in  factories,  and  with  the  maids  at  a  different  hour 
on  another  day,  and  so  with  girls  of  other  classes  who  sup- 
port themselves. 

Another  woman  assistant  has  had  large  experience  as 
a  Bible  teacher,  and  does  a  very  much  needed  work  in 
her  line,  by  organizing  wives,  mothers,  housekeepers  and 
all  others  she  can  enlist,  into  classes  for  a  systematic 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  under  her  skillful  training 
a  most  enthusiastic  interest  is  soon  awakened  in  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  which  continues  for  years  after  the  meetings 
have  been  held.  This  assistant  often  returns  for  a  few 
days,  to  give  the  classes  any  renewed  help  that  may  be 
needed. 

In  one  city  where  a  meeting  was  in  progress  a  travel- 
ing man  went  into  his  hotel,  and  with  a  look  of  amaze- 
ment on  his  face,  said  to  the  clerk : 

"  I  just  saw  the  strangest  sight  I  ever  saw  in  my 
life." 

''And  what  was  it?"  said  the  clerk,  as  he  jabbed  a 
pen  into  the  glass  of  shot. 

"  Why,  it  was  more  than  a  hundred  women  passing 
along  the  sidewalk,  and  every  last  one  of  them  was 
carrying  a  Bible !  " 

And  this  shows  what  a  marked  Impression  such  Bible 
work  as  Sunday  is  having  done  must  have  on  a  com- 
munity. 

The  lady  above  referred  to  also  forms  personal 
workers  classes  and  trains  them  to  do  intelligent  and 
effective  personal  work  in  the  meetings  and  elsewhere. 
Many  so  trained  become  real  soul  winners. 


152  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

She  also  meets  the  high  school  girls  three  times  a 
week,  and  gives  them  practical  instruction  in  Bible  study. 
She  plans  and  arranges  for  meetings  of  women  in  homes, 
arranges  group  meetings,  etc.,  and  herself  addresses 
many  women's  meetings. 

The  gospel  is  not  only  preached  to  the  poor  in  the 
tabernacle,  and  carried  to  the  unfortunate  in  many  ways 
that  appeal  to  them  through  the  various  channels  of  the 
Sunday  meetings,  but  special  efforts  are  also  made  to 
reach  the  v/ealthy.  Meetings  especially  for  this  class  are 
also  held  in  the  homes  of  society  people,  where  for  the 
time  the  ballroom  is  turned  into  a  chapel,  and  some  of 
the  best  preaching  Sunday  has  ever  done  he  does  here. 
In  no  other  meeting  does  he  have  a  more  attentive  hear- 
ing, or  preach  more  impressively. 

The  place  is  always  crowded  with  women  who  move 
in  the  upper  circles,  many  of  whom  never  heard  a 
straight-out  gospel  sermon  from  a  man  who  had  the 
courage  to  speak  the  truth  as  it  is  given  in  the  Bible. 
These  people  have  found  by  experience  that  wealth  and 
high  station  can  never  satisfy  an  immortal  spirit,  and 
in  their  souls  many  of  them  have  long  yearned  for  some- 
thing better.  Many  who  thus  hear  the  truth  in  the 
homes  of  friends  want  more  of  it,  and  so  become  attend- 
ants at  the  tabernacle.  Sunday  was  the  first  evangelist  to 
undertake  this  most  important  and  sadly  neglected 
work. 

In  wide  contrast  to  this,  meetings  are  also  held  in 
jails  and  prisons.  When  holding  meetings  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  where  the  State  Penitentiary  is  located,  Mr.  Sun- 
day held  services  in  the  great  prison  every  Wednesday 
and  Sabbath  morning,  at  nine  o'clock,  and  hundreds  of 
the  prisoners  were  converted,  and  since  their  release 
have  lived  upright  lives.    His  Bible  teachers  had  a  class 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  153 

of  over  eight  hundred  in  the  prison,  and  the  men  were 
taught  the  word  of  God. 

Another  marked  feature  is  the  mammoth  men's  meet- 
ings that  are  held  almost  every  Sunday  afternoon  in  the 
tabernacle,  and  which  is  always  filled  to  its  fullest  capac- 
ity. The  attendance  at  these  meetings  is  so  unprece- 
dented that  no  matter  how  great  the  capacity  of  the  build- 
ing may  be,  it  is  always  crowded  to  the  utmost,  and 
thousands  are  turned  away. 

No  one  can  have  the  remotest  idea  of  how  men  can 
be  stirred,  until  he  has  attended  one  of  these  great  meet- 
ings. In  them  multitudes  have  taken  their  stand  for 
Christ,  and  other  thousands  of  men  whose  names  had 
long  been  on  church  rolls  have  been  changed  from  luke- 
warmness  and  indifference  into  live  wires  of  Christian 
energy.  Whenever  a  large  number  have  to  be  turned 
away  from  any  of  the  tabernacle  meetings,  an  overflow 
meeting  is  held  in  the  largest  accessible  church,  con- 
ducted by  Sunday's  assistants. 

While  meetings  for  men  only  are  being  held  at  the 
tabernacle,  from  one  to  three  meetings  for  women  only 
are  held,  addressed  by  Mrs.  Sunday  and  other  ladies  of 
the  party,  and  these  meetings  are  always  larger  in  at- 
tendance than  the  capacity  of  the  churches  in  which  they 
are  held  can  accommodate.  A  great  many  conversions 
have  taken  place  in  them. 

Another  great  meeting  is  one  for  women  alone,  where 
Sunday  makes  an  address  especially  for  women,  and 
which  no  man  has  ever  yet  been  allowed  to  attend.  Not 
even  the  musical  director,  Sunday's  first  assistant  or 
the  janitor  can  remain.  Unprincipled  men  have  some- 
times tried  to  smuggle  themselves  in,  but  have  soon  been 
discovered  and  ousted.  Not  a  great  while  ago  two  young 
fellows  in  women's  apparel  attempted  it,  but  Mrs.  Sun- 


154f  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

day  was  acting  as  chief  usher  just  then,  and  her  quick 
eye  detected  them.  She  walked  over  to  them,  and  put 
out  her  hand  to  shake  hands.  When  they  stretched  out 
their  big  paws  her  suspicions  were  confirmed,  and  very 
much  crestfallen  they  were  shown  to  the  door,  getting 
a  good  deal  tangled  up  in  their  hobble  skirts  as  they 
stampeded  toward  the  exit.  In  some  of  these  meetings 
hundreds  of  well-dressed  women  have  sat  down  on  the 
shavings  in  the  aisles  and  open  spaces,  while  other  thou- 
sands were  unable  to  get  into  the  building. 

The  meeting  for  women  only,  during  the  campaign 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  was  perhaps  the  most  wonderful 
ever  held  in  America.  The  hour  for  the  service  to  com- 
mence had  been  announced  for  two  o'clock,  but  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  women  began  to  gather  about  the 
building,  waiting  for  the  doors  to  open.  By  ten  o'clock 
twelve  thousand  women  were  packed  in  the  building, 
every  available  foot  of  space  being  taken.  Hundreds 
were  clamoring  to  get  in,  and  every  street  car  was 
packed,  bringing  thousands  more.  Automobiles  rushed 
up  with  their  precious  loads  of  elegantly  gowned  women 
from  the  homes  of  the  rich,  all  wild  to  gain  an 
entrance. 

Word  being  sent  to  Mr.  Sunday,  he  hurried  to  the 
tabernacle,  and  announced  that  he  would  preach  to  those 
already  in  the  building.  They  would  then  pass  out 
through  the  rear  doors,  and  those  waiting  outside  would 
be  admitted,  and  the  sermon  repeated  to  them.  This 
announcement  was  greeted  with  wild  cheers.  When  the 
doors  were  opened  twelve  thousand  women  swept  in, 
brushing  the  police  to  one  side  as  though  they  were 
children. 

Sunday  finished  the  sermon  the  second  time  at  three- 
thirty;  rushed  to  his  hotels  changed  his  clothes,  which 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  155 

were  dripping  wet  from  perspiration;  jumped  into  an 
automobile  and  hurried  to  the  Ohio  State  University, 
where  he  addressed  two  thousand  students,  assembled  in 
the  great  gymnasium.  Then  back  home  for  a  few  min- 
utes rest.  Then  again  hurrying  to  the  tabernacle  to 
preach  the  same  sermon  to  twelve  thousand  business 
women — from  office,  factory,  shop  and  store — who  had 
been  given  special  tickets  of  admission.  In  all,  nearly 
forty  thousand  different  women  attended  the  services  in 
one  day,  and  thus  closed  the  most  remarkable  demon- 
stration of  the  kind  ever  seen  in  the  United  States. 

This  is  what  a  lady  of  South  Bend  had  to  say  in  one 
of  the  local  papers,  concerning  the  Woman's  Meeting 
there : 

"  Billy  Sunday's  talk  to  women  was  a  plain  talk  on  a 
plain  subject,  and  as  Billy  said,  he  was  '  bitterly  ma- 
ligned '  by  those  whom  he  calls  '  foul-mouthed  degen- 
erates,' when  they  say  his  sermon  is  shocking.  In  my 
opinion  every  word  of  that  sermon  should  be  put  in 
print,  and  then  cut  out  and  put  in  a  woman's  scrapbook 
of  choice  clippings.  He  talked  plain,  but  if  plain  talk  was 
ever  needed  it  is  needed  to-day.  Nothing  else  will  ever 
make  some  women  stop  and  think.  The  power  of  his 
personality  is  shown  when  something  unusual  causes  a 
stir  in  the  audience.  Last  night  a  restless  movement 
was  noticed  once,  and  the  whole  audience  and  I  held 
our  breath,  for  I  knew  one  scream,  one  false  move,  and 
thousands  of  women  would  be  turned  into  so  many  wild- 
cats fighting  for  their  lives.  But  Billy  spoke  a  word  of 
assurance,  and  quiet  was  restored.  The  meeting  was  a 
wonderful  gathering  of  women,  and  its  like  will  never 
be  seen  in  South  Bend  again.  As  a  woman  observer 
it  did  me  a  world  of  good,  and  '  it  was  good  to  have  been 
there.'  " 


156  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Another  great  special  feature  of  the  campaign  is  the 
day  that  is  set  apart  for  mothers.  On  this  day  everybody 
in  the  city  is  urged  to  wear  a  white  carnation,  white 
flower  of  some  kind,  or  if  the  flower  is  not  obtainable,  a 
white  ribbon  in  memory  of  mother.  Acts  of  kindness 
that  would  please  mother,  are  urged  upon  every  one  for 
that  day.  If  she  is  living,  write  her  a  good  letter,  or 
send  her  some  flowers. 

''  If  your  mother  is  dead,  it  is  requested  that  you  re- 
member what  she  was  to  you.  Recall  how  great  has 
been  her  influence  upon  you  for  good ;  thank  God  that 
you  had  a  good  mother,  and  say  again  the  prayer  she 
taught  you.  If  your  mother  is  dead,  do  an  act  of  kind- 
ness to  somebody  else's  mother.  If  you  have  an  auto 
or  a  carriage,  use  it,  or  give  its  use  to  carry  old  mothers 
to  the  tabernacle." 

The  day  meeting  that  day  is  called  "  Alother's  Meet- 
ing." The  songs  "  mother  used  to  sing  "  are  sung,  and 
the  sermon  by  Mr.  Sunday  is  very  tender  and  very  touch- 
ing, and  is  especially  addressed  to  mothers.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  day  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
attend  the  meetings.  In  many  cities  the  stores  and  fac- 
tories close  during  the  hours  of  the  meeting. 

Among  the  most  important  features  is  the  Sunday 
school  parade,  which  usually  takes  place  about  the  third 
week  of  the  meeting,  and  in  which  about  all  the  schools 
in  the  county  participate.  People  always  looi:  for  some- 
thing much  out  of  the  ordinary  in  this  parade,  and  yet 
when  it  is  seen  they  are  much  more  than  astonished — 
they  are  amazed. 

At  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  where  perhaps  the  largest  thus 
far  held  took  place,  it  was  estimated  that  fully  twenty 
thousand  were  in  line,  and  that  at  least  thirty  thousand 
more  turned  out  to  witness  the  wonderful  event.     The 


LIVING  ROOM    AND  DINING  ROOM    IN   HOME  AT   WINONA 

LAKE,    IND. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  157 

procession  was  four  miles  long,  marching  four,  and 
sometimes  eight  abreast.  It  took  an  hour  and  twenty-two 
minutes  to  pass  a  given  point,  including  stops.  The 
illustrations  on  other  pages  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  it. 
It  was  in  April,  and  the  weather  ideal.  The  following 
account  of  it  is  from  the  Wilkes-Barre  Record: 

''  Circus  days  in  the  palmiest  period  of  their  pros- 
perity never  proved  more  magnetic  in  drawing  people 
to  the  city.  Every  car  the  traction  company  could  press 
into  service  was  employed  in  handling  the  enormous  sub- 
urban traffic.  The  summer  cars  were  brought  out,  and 
every  one  packed  to  the  limit.  The  people  making  up 
the  various  delegations  began  to  assemble  on  the  river 
common  as  early  as  ten  o'clock.  At  noon  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  move  on  River  street,  and  at  the  Market 
street  bridge  the  scene  presented  would  have  rivaled 
that  in  a  metropolitan  city  on  election  night.  No  attempt 
was  made  at  formation  until  the  parade  started  to  move. 
This  occurred  promptly  to  the  minute  scheduled. 

"  Mr.  Sunday  appeared  about  three  minutes  ahead  of 
time,  walking  from  the  Sterling  with  Mrs.  Sunday,  his 
self-confessed  commander-in-chief.  Promptly  at  twelve- 
thirty  he  gave  the  signal  to  the  chief  marshal,  and  the 
column  started.  The  bands  commenced  to  play,  and  the 
ranks  fell  into  step.  A  platoon  of  mounted  police  kept 
the  way  clear.  A  car  containing  a  number  of  women, 
members  of  the  evangelistic  party,  formed  the  vanguard. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sunday,  and  most  of  the  members  of  the 
party,  marched  in  the  procession. 

*'  Everywhere  the  marchers  advanced  they  were 
greeted  with  the  same  intense  enthusiasm  that  marked  the 
whole  demonstration.  At  one  point  the  mayor  was 
picked  up,  loaded  into  a  car  and  taken  along.  Traffic 
along  the  route  of  march  was  blocked  for  about  two 


158  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

hours.  The  makeup  of  the  parade  was  something  dif- 
ferent from  anything  ever  seen  in  our  city. 

"  The  main  body  of  the  column  was  composed  of  chil- 
dren, although  there  were  thousands  of  adults  in  line. 
Numerous  auto  trucks  and  heavy  wagons  punctuated 
the  line  at  various  points.  They  were  loaded  with  tiny 
children  too  small  to  march.  Nearly  every  one  who  par- 
ticipated carried  a  banner  or  flag  of  some  kind.  Two 
sprinklers  mounted  by  crowds  of  little  youngsters  made 
literal  water  wagons,  and  the  fact  was  emblazoned  on 
cards  that  admonished  every  one  to  '  Cut  out  Booze ! ' 
Hay  wagons,  carts,  autos  of  all  kinds  carried  hundreds 
of  the  little  tots. 

"  The  scene  at  the  tabernacle  after  the  parade  was 
one  that  cannot  soon  be  forgotten.  The  vast  building 
was  packed  to  the  doors  with  an  audience  made  up 
mostly  of  children,  and  Sunday  preached  a  sermon  espe- 
cially to  them.  Four  buildings  were  packed.  The  taber- 
nacle with  seven  to  eight  thousand;  a  church  seating 
over  two  thousand,  and  in  Majestic  Theater  were  packed 
fifteen  hundred  more.  Beside  this,  another  meeting  was 
held  in  one  of  the  churches.  All  the  meetings  were  ad- 
dressed by  members  of  the  Sunday  party.  By  this  time 
it  was  scarcely  four  o'clock,  and  the  parade  disbanded, 
with  thousands  who  were  unable  to  get  into  a  meeting, 
some  of  whom  had  been  marching  since  twelve-thirty. 

"  When  it  was  suggested  in  the  tabernacle  that  the 
Sunday  school  parade  be  made  an  annual  event,  the 
entire  audience  leaped  to  their  feet  in  acclamation  of  the 
proposal." 

The  wildest  kinds  of  rumors,  reports,  charges  and 
slanders  are  in  circulation  as  to  the  ironclad  require- 
ments that  must  be  met  before  Sunday  will  engage  to 
hold  a 'meeting  in  any  city,  and  one  of  the  basest  of  these 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  159 

is  that  he  requires  a  money  guarantee  of  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  his  services.  This  is  absolutely  false, 
and  has  not  a  single  word  of  truth  in  it.  He  never  has 
made  any  requirement  on  this  line  whatever,  except  that 
he  shall  receive  what  the  people  will  voluntarily  give 
him  on  the  last  Sunday  of  the  meeting.  He  makes 
no  stipulation  whatever  as  to  the  amount  he  shall 
receive. 

Sunday   takes   a   deep  interest  in   the  spiritual   well- 
being  of  those  who  take  a  stand  for  Christ  in  his  meet-, 
ings,   and  aims   to  have  them  clearly  and   intelligently 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  step  they  take.     Indi- 
vidual cases,  that  for  some  particular  reason  are  brought 
to  his  attention,  he  sometimes  keeps  in  touch  with  for_^ 
years.     A    carefully    prepared    leaflet,    the    result    of    'I 
years  of  experience,  study  and  prayer,  is  presented  to 
each  one  at  the  time  the  stand  is  taken.     It  reads  as 
follows : 

Dear  Friend  :  You  have  by  this  act  of  coming  forward 
publicly  acknowledged  your  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  your 
personal  Saviour.  No  one  could  possibly  be  more  re- 
joiced that  you  have  done  this,  or  be  more  anxious  for 
you  to  succeed  and  get  the  most  joy  and  service  out  of 
the  Christian  life  than  I.  I  therefore  ask  you  to  read 
carefully  this  little  tract.  Paste  it  in  your  Bible  and 
read  it  frequently. 

What  It  Means  to  he  a  Christian. — A  Christian  is  any 
man,  woman  or  child  who  comes  to  God  as  a  lost  sinner, 
accepts  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour, 
surrenders  to  Him  as  his  Lord  and  Master;  confesses 
Him  as  such  before  the  world,  and  strives  to  please  Him 
in  everything,  day  by  day. 

Have  yoit  come  to  God  realizing  that  you  are  a  lost 


160  THE  REAL  BiLLY  SUNDAY 

sinner?  Have  you  accepted  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
your  personal  Saviour?  That  is,  do  you  believe  with 
all  your  heart  that  God  laid  all  your  iniquity  on  Him? 
(Isa.  53:5-6).  And  that  He  bore  the  penalty  of  your 
sins  (i  Pet.  2:24)  and  that  your  sins  are  forgiven  be- 
cause Jesus  died  in  your  stead? 

Have  you  surrendered  to  Him  as  your  Lord  and 
Master?  That  is,  are  you  willing  to  do  His  will,  even 
when  it  conflicts  with  your  desire? 

Have  you  confessed  Him  as  your  Saviour  and  Master 
before  the  world? 

Is  it  your  purpose  to  strive  to  please  Him  In  every- 
thing day  by  day? 

If  you  can  sincerely  answer  ''  Yes "  to  the  foregoing 
questions,  then  you  may  know,  on  the  authority  of  God's 
word,  that  yon  are  now  a  child  of  God  (John  i :  12)  ; 
that  you  have  now  eternal  life  (John  3:  36)  ;  that  is  to 
say,  if  you  have  done  your  part  (i.e.,  believe  that  Christ 
died  in  your  place,  and  receive  Him  as  your  Saviour 
and  Master),  God  has  done  His  part,  and  imparted  to 
you  His  own  nature  (2  Peter  1:4). 

How  to  Make  a  Success  of  the  Christian  Life. — Now 
that  you  are  a  child  of  God,  your  growth  depends  upon 
yourself. 

It  is  impossible  for  you  to  become  a  useful  Christian 
unless  you  are  willing  to  do  the  things  which  are  abso- 
lutely essential  to  your  spiritual  growth.  To  this  end 
the  following  suggestions  will  be  found  to  be  of  vital 
importance : 

Study  the  Bible. — Set  aside  at  least  fifteen  minutes  a 
day  for  Bible  study.  Let  God  talk  to  you  fifteen  minutes 
a  day  through  His  Word.  Talk  to  God  fifteen  min- 
utes a  day  in  prayer.  Talk  for  God  fifteen  minutes  a 
day. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  161 

As  newborn  babes  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby. — i  Peter  2  :  2. 

The  w^ord  of  God  is  food  for  the  soul.  Commit  to 
memory  one  verse  of  Scripture  each  day.  Join  a  Bible 
class  (Ps.  119:  11). 

Pray  Much. — Praying  is  talking  to  God.  Talk  to  Him 
about  everything — your  perplexities,  joys,  sorrows,  sins, 
mistakes,  friends,  enemies,  etc. 

Be  careful  for  nothing;  but  in  everything  by 
prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your 
requests  be  made  known  unto  God. — Phil.  4 :  6. 

Win  Some  One  for  Christ. — For  spiritual  growth  you 
need  not  only  food  (Bible  study),  but  exercise.  Work 
for  Christ.  The  only  work  Christ  ever  set  for  Christians 
is  to  win  others. 

Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature. — Mark  16:  15. 

When  I  say  unto  the  wicked.  Thou  shalt  surely 
die;  and  thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest 
to  warn  the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save 
his  life;  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his 
iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand. — 
Ezek.  3:18. 

Shun  Evil  Companions. — Avoid  bad  people,  bad  books, 
bad  thoughts.    Read  the  first  psalm. 

Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbe- 
lievers :  for  what  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with 
unrighteousness?  and  what  communion  hath  light 


162  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

with  darkness?  or  what  part  hath  he  that  believeth 
with  an  infidel?  Wherefore  come  out  from  among 
them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord. — 2  Cor. 

6:14-17- 
Try  to  win  the  wicked  for  God,  but  do  not  choose 

them  for  your  companions. 

Join  Some  Church. — Be  faithful  in  your  attendance 
at  the  Sabbath  and  mid-week  services. 

Not   forsaking  the   assembling  of   ourselves   to- 
gether, as  the  manner  of  some  is. — Heb.  10 :  25. 

Co-operate  with  Your  Pastor. — God  has  appointed  the 
pastor  to  be  a  shepherd  over  the  church,  and  you  should 
give  him  due  reverence,  and  seek  to  assist  him  in  his 
plans  for  the  welfare  of  the  church. 

Give  to  the  Support  of  the  Lord's  Work. — Give  as  the 
Lord  hath  prospered  you  (i  Cor.  16:2). 

Give  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity,  for  God  lov- 
eth  a  cheerful  giver. — 2  Cor.  9 :  7. 

Do  Not  Become  Discouraged. — Expect  temptations, 
discouragement  and  persecution.  The  Christian  life  is  a 
warfare. 

Yea,  and  all  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus 
shall  suffer  persecution. — 2  Tim.  3 :  12. 

"  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge."  We  have  the  prom- 
ise that  all  things,  even  strange,  hard  and  unaccountable 
obstacles,  work  together  for  our  good.  Alany  of  God's 
brightest  saints  who  were  once  as  weak  as  you  are, 
passed  through  dark  tunnels  and  the  hottest  fires,  and 


MR.    AND    MRS.    SUNDAY   ON   THE   GOLF   LINKS. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  163 

yet  their  lives  were  enriched  by  their  experiences,  and 
the  world  was  made  better  because  of  their  having  lived 
in  it. 

Read  often  the  following  passages  of  Scripture: 
Romans  8 :  i8;  James  i :  12 ;  i  Cor.  10 :  13. 

Near  the  close  of  each  campaign  a  Personal  Workers' 
League  is  organized,  to  aid  the  churches  in  maintaining 
the  revival  spirit  after  the  meetings  end.  In  some  places 
hundreds  of  names  are  enrolled,  and  in  the  list  will  be 
representatives  from  all  classes  converted  at  the  taber- 
nacle, and  others  who  have  for  years  been  church  mem- 
bers. These  Leaguers  stand  pledged  to  hold  up  the 
hands  of  their  pastor,  and  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  him  in  all  his  endeavors  to  make  religion  something 
more  than  a  name.  They  give  life  to  the  prayer  and 
other  devotional  meetings  of  their  own  church,  and  also 
to  the  Sunday  school  and  adult  Bible  classes. 

Teams  are  also  organized  among  them  for  aggressive 
evangelistic  work,  and  by  them  meetings  are  held  in  their 
own  and  neighboring  communities.  They  hold  noon 
meetings,  in  shops,  factories,  etc.,  and  make  all  possible 
effort  to  get  men  to  take  an  interest  in  religion.  By 
such  efforts  a  revival  spirit  is  maintained,  and  hundreds 
of  people  are  converted.  At  Youngstown,  Ohio,  for  in- 
stance, where  Sunday  held  a  meeting  in  1908,  the  revival 
fires  have  been  kept  burning  in  the  churches  ever  since. 
The  gains  in  church  membership  have  been  not  only 
steady,  but  surprising. 

Through  the  personal  workers  at  Wichita,  Kan., 
where  Sunday  held  a  meeting  in  191 1,  nineteen  hundred 
and  thirteen  men  and  boys  were  reported  converted 
within  a  year  from  the  close  of  the  campaign.     Also 


164  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

through  the  example  and  influence  of  the  Wichita  work- 
ers, converts  in  other  towns  organized  similar  teams, 
and  extended  the  work  into  other  districts.  A  moment's 
thought  will  show  what  a  power  for  good  a  live  Per- 
sonal Workers'  League  may  become  in  any  community. 


B 


XV 

SOME  OF  SUNDAY'S  SAYINGS 

ETTER  limp  all  the  way  to  heaven  than  not  get 
there  at  all. 


To  make  seeking  God  the  first  business  of  life,  is  to 
begin  right. 

In  the  sight  of  God  there  is  no  difference  between 
being  wrong  and  doing  wrong. 

If  you  would  be  taken  over  the  river  dry-shod,  you 
must  get  into  the  boat. 

I  would  rather  have  standing  room  in  heaven  than 
own  the  world  and  go  to  hell. 

If  good  preaching  could  save  the  world,  it  would  have 
been  done  long  ago. 

The  man  who  can  drive  a  hog  and  keep  his  religion, 
will  stand  without  hitching. 

The  inconsistency  is  not  in  the  Bible,  but  in  your  life. 

There  are  men  in  hell  because  they  wasted  too  much 
time  in  trying  to  find  out  where  Cain  got  his  wife. 

165 


166  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

You  can  find  everything  in  the  average  church,  from 
a  humming  bird  to  a  turkey  buzzard. 

The  man  who  sneers  at  true  rehgion  turns  up  his  nose 
at  one  of  the  best  things  on  earth. 

You  don't  have  to  look  like  a  hedgehog  to  be  pious. 

Riches  have  never  yet  given  anybody  either  peace  or 
rest. 

If  there  is  no  hell,  a  good  many  preachers  are  obtain- 
ing money  under  false  pretenses. 

The  man  virho  is  right  with  God  will  not  be  wrong 
with  anything  that  is  good. 

Some  of  the  biggest  lies  ever  told  are  to  be  found  on 
gravestones. 

In  every  community  are  some  folks  the  devil  can 
catch  with  a  bare  hook. 

If  you  depend  on  your  emotions  for  motive  power, 
you  will  come  to  a  good  many  places  where  the  wires 
won't  work. 

The  Bible  will  always  be  full  of  things  you  cannot 
understand,  as  long  as  you  will  not  live  according  to 
those  you  can  understand. 

God  never  says  no  to  the  man  who  is  really  in  earnest. 

Don't  stop  with  telling  your  boy  to  do  right.  Show 
him  how. 


SUNDAY'S  SAYINGS  IGT 

Better  die  an  old  maid,  sister,  than  marry  the  wrong 
man. 

Our  homes  are  on  a  level  with  our  women. 

The  devil  has  a  mortgage  on  many  a  child  from  the 
day  it  is  born. 

You  never  hear  of  a  man  marrying  a  woman  to  re- 
form her. 

Is  there  any  bread  in  rum?  Yes,  for  the  brewer  and 
the  saloon  keeper,  but  not  for  the  drunkard's  family. 

There  are  too  many  men  in  the  pulpit  to-day  who 
preach  as  if  they  didn't  expect  any  help  from  God. 

Going  to  church  don't  make  anybody  a  Christian,  any 
more  than  taking  a  wheelbarrow  into  a  garage  makes 
it  an  automobile. 

There  never  was  a  doubt  in  the  world  that  didn't 
come  straight  from  the  devil. 

No  hypocrite  in  the  church,  or  out  of  it,  is  going  to 
get  into  heaven. 

If  you  live  as  God  wants  you  to  your  life  will  have 
some  lines  in  it  like  those  in  the  face  of  Christ. 

Too  many  churches  are  little  more  than  four  walls 
and  a  roof. 

I  would  rather  be  pastor  of  a  graveyard  than  of  some 
churches. 


168  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

The  right  preaching  of  the  gospel  will  never  hurt 
anything  good. 

The  big  bugs  in  the  church  are  mistaken  about  as 
often  as  the  little  ones. 

The  man  who  votes  for  the  saloon  is  pulling  on  the 
same  rope  with  the  devil,  whether  he  knows  it  or  not. 

God  pity  the  country  when  the  devil  gets  the  home. 

To  have  to  live  with  some  people  is  to  slide  toward 
the  pit. 

A  decent  man  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  live  in  a  town 
that  is  run  by  the  devil's  gang. 

Call  the  devil  by  his  right  name,  and  you  will  make 
many  a  man  with  broad  phylacteries  as  mad  as  fire. 

You  can  have  as  many  theories  as  you  please,  but  you 
will  never  get  into  heaven  unless  you  plant  your  feet  on 
the  Rock  of  As^es. 


"•&' 


If  you  would  have  your  children  turn  out  well,  don't 
turn  your  home  into  a  lunch  counter  and  lodging  house. 

Trying  to  run  a  church  without  revivals  can  be  done — 
when  you  can  run  a  gasoline  engine  on  buttermilk. 

If  the  womanhood  of  America  had  been  no  better  than 
its  manhood,  the  devil  would  have  had  the  country 
fenced  in  long  ago. 


SUNDAY'S  SAYINGS  169 

Some  homes  need  a  hickory  switch  a  good  deal  more 
than  they  do  a  piano. 

The  devil  hates  the  church,  but  he  likes  the  work  some 
highbrows  do  in  it. 

Some  of  the  biggest  rooms  in  hell  will  be  crowded 
full  of  church  members. 

Many  a  man  who  is  rolling  down  hill  faster  than  a 
fox  can  run,  will  tell  you  that  he  is  on  his  w^ay  to 
heaven. 

Enthusiasm  is  as  good  a  thing  in  religion  as  fire  is 
in  a  cook  stove. 

When  I  hit  the  devil  square  in  the  face  some  people 
go  away  as  mad  as  if  I  had  slapped  them  in  the  mouth. 

The  man  who  has  no  passion  for  souls  is  liable  to 
get  mad  at  the  drop  of  a  hat. 

Man  was  a  fool  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  he  has 
taken  a  good  many  new  degrees  since. 

There  are  some  homes  that  never  hurt  the  devil's 
business. 

The  backslider  likes  the  preaching  that  wouldn't  hit 
the  side  of  a  house,  while  the  real  disciple  is  delighted 
when  the  truth  brings  him  to  his  knees. 

The  man  who  don't  believe  in  a  hell  is  about  sure  to 
be  scorching  to  it  with  both  pedals  loose. 


170  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Some  preachers  preach  as  if  all  their  members  were 
saints. 

The  devil  will  say  amen  to  the  preaching  that  says  the 
world  is  becoming  better  and  better. 

Don't  throw  any  mud  at  the  plan  of  salvation  until 
you  try  it  and  find  out  that  it  won't  work. 

Whenever  the  devil  gets  a  chance  to  put  a  thorn  in 
a  good  man's  side,  he  jabs  it  in  deep. 

No  photographer  could  make  a  living  taking  pictures, 
if  he  made  them  look  just  like  you. 

Look  into  the  preaching  Jesus  did,  and  you  will  find 
it  was  aimed  straight  at  the  big  sinners  on  the  front  seats. 

The  repentance  that  counts  with  God  must  be  brought 
down  to  a  spot  cash  basis. 

There  would  be  more  power  in  the  prayers  of  some 
folks  if  they  would  put  more  white  money  in  the  collec- 
tion basket. 

There  wouldn't  be  so  many  non-church  goers  if  there 
were  not  so  many  non-going  churches. 

Be  careful,  father,  or  while  you  are  making  one  lap 
around  the  devil's  track  your  boy  will  make  six. 

God  keeps  no  half-way  house.  It's  either  heaven  or 
hell  for  you  and  me. 


SUNDAY'S  SAYINGS  171 

If  there  is  a  heaven  for  fools,  the  man  who  thinks  he 
can  get  to  glory  on  his  wife's  religion  will  be  there  on 
a  front  seat. 

Not  to  walk  in  the  straight  and  narrow  way  yourself, 
is  to  give  the  devil  the  biggest  kind  of  a  chance  to  get 
your  children. 

If  you  follow  some  of  the  star  preachers  you  will  be 
lost  in  the  woods,  but  if  you  follow  Christ  you  will  be 
sure  to  land  in  heaven. 

If  you  are  strangers  to  prayer  you  are  strangers  to 
power. 

When  picking  out  a  man's  coffin,  the  worst  thing  to 
say  about  him  is  that  he  had  no  enemies. 

The  devil  never  put  a  wickeder  lie  into  the  heart  of 
any  man,  than  that  the  way  to  be  a  Christian  is  to  be 
solemn  and  cold  and  sour. 

I  am  not  the  author  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  but  I  am 
responsible  for  the  way  I  preach  it. 

The  world  needs  the  best  you  can  give  it. 

The  father  who  keeps  his  boy  away  from  school  is 
doing  his  best  to  make  a  fool  out  of  him. 

Not  how  well  you  have  done,  but  how  v/hat  you  have 
done  compares  with  what  you  might  have  done  is  what 
counts. 


17S  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

What  you  have  given  the  world  it  never  possessed 
before  you  came. 

The  difference  between  God's  side  and  the  devil's  is 
the  difference  between  heaven  and  hell. 

Temptation  is  not  sin — yielding  is. 

A  man  can  slip  into  hell  with  his  hand  on  the  door- 
knob of  heaven. 

Ball  bearings  on  the  church  doors  will  never  fill  the 
pews  with  sinners  seeking  salvation. 

Temptation  is  the  devil  looking  through  the  keyhole. 
Yielding  is  opening  the  door  and  inviting  him  in. 

If  you  live  wrong  you  can't  die  right. 

To  discover  a  flaw  in  our  makeup  is  a  chance  to  get 
rid  of  it,  and  add  a  new  line  of  beauty  to  our  life. 

God  will  not  send  the  winds  to  drive  our  ship  of  salva- 
tion, unless  we  have  faith  to  lift  the  sails. 

The  real  man  shuns  a  path  carpeted  with  velvet. 

If  you  are  going  to  be  carried  over  the  rough  places, 
you  might  as  well  have  no  legs  at  all. 

All  the  service  that  weighs  an  ounce  in  the  sight  of 
God  is  that  which  is  prompted  by  love. 


SUNDAY'S  SAYINGS  173 

I  am  an  old-fashioned  preacher  of  the  old-time  reli- 
gion, that  has  warmed  this  cold  world's  heart  for  two 
thousand  years. 

To  know  some  men  is  an  invitation  to  do  right.  To 
know  others  is  an  invitation  to  lie,  drink,  swear  and  sink 
into  hell. 

What  God  needs,  and  the  world  needs,  is  men  who 
are  solid  mahogany  all  the  way  through. 


XVI 

SUNDAY'S  HOME  AND  OTHER  FAMILY 
AFFAIRS 

MR.  SUNDAY'S  mother  is  still  living,  and  only  a 
mother  can  know  and  appreciate  the  great  joy 
and  satisfaction  she  has  had  in  hearing  her  son 
preach  to  vast  multitudes  virith  such  marvelous  power, 
and  seeing  him  so  wondrously  used  of  God  in  the  saving 
of  many.  It  has  been  her  privilege  to  have  a  seat  on  the 
platform  in  many  of  his  great  meetings,  and  there  witness 
scenes  that  melted  her  heart  in  gratitude. 

Sunday  has  always  been  glad  to  have  his  mother  with 
him  at  the  tabernacle  whenever  she  could  be  present, 
and  has  had  his  heart  made  very  tender  by  the  heartiness 
of  the  applause  that  always  greeted  her  whenever  he 
introduced  her.  God  has  a  thousand  ways  of  pouring 
the  oil  of  joy  into  the  heart  of  a  mother,  and  to  this 
Sunday's  mother  can  abundantly  testify. 

Billy's  love  for  his  mother,  and  his  intense  loyalty  to 
her,  has  been  a  grand  example  to  thousands  of  young 
people  all  over  the  country  and  this  has  always  reached 
the  climax  of  influence  in  every  campaign  when  the  spe- 
cial "  Mothers*  Day  "  services  were  held. 

Everything  in  the  way  of  good  that  comes  to  Sunday 
he  is  proud  and  happy  to  share  w^ith  his  wife.  Next 
to  the  favor  of  God,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  anything 
more  precious  to  him  than  "  Nell's  "  smile  of  enjoyment, 
and  she  is  just  as  glad  when  the  dew  of  heaven  comes 

174 


AS    HE   APPEARS    AT    HOME,    BETWEEN    MEETINGS. 


HOME  AND  FAMILY  AFFAIRS  175 

to  him.  Along  with  the  great  honors  and  tributes  that 
are  bestowed  upon  Sunday  in  the  cities  where  he  goes, 
Mrs.  Sunday  must  be  at  his  side  to  share  them  if  she 
is  anywhere  near. 

If  she  is  on  the  platform  behind  him  when  any  special 
ovation  or  present  is  offered  him,  a  glance  in  her  direc- 
tion, and  a  characteristic  jerk  of  his  head  is  a  wireless 
signal  that  is  by  the  whole  multitude  instantly  understood, 
and  it  promptly  brings  her  to  his  side.  This  noble  ex- 
ample from  a  leader  so  prominent  cannot  but  have  a 
most  wholesome  influence  in  many  a  home. 

A  short  time  ago,  Mr.  Sunday's  youngest  boy — little 
Paul,  a  six-year-old — had  the  experience  that  is  always 
so  momentous  to  the  small  boy — his  first  day  in  school. 

He  had  for  some  time  been  looking  forward  to  it  as 
being  a  fine  thing  to  have  to  do,  but  when  the  day  at  last 
really  dawned,  it  was  quite  a  solemn  thing  for  little  Paul. 
There  was  no  smile  on  his  bright  little  face  that  morning, 
and  for  once  in  his  life  he  was  actually  still.  There 
is  good  ground  for  believing  that  he  might  have  backed 
out  altogether  but  for  Willie,  who  braced  him  up  as 
one  boy  knows  so  well  how  to  help  another. 

Willie  is  Paul's  hero,  for  Willie  is  twelve,  and  that 
makes  him  quite  a  giant  to  his  baby  brother.  He  is  all, 
and  mayhap  more  to  Paul  than  Simon  Peter  was  to 
Andrew.  He  always  feels  safe  when  Willie  is  close  by, 
and  is  never  timid  about  following  Willie  anywhere. 
He  would  follow  him  into  the  lions'  den. 

Had  Jonah  had  a  younger  brother  with  him  on  the 
ship,  who  believed  in  him  as  little  Paul  does  in  Willie, 
the  whale  would  have  had  to  carry  two  passengers  in- 
stead of  one,  and  think  of  the  extra  trouble  that  would 
have  made  for  some  of  the  Bible  critics. 

But  little  Paul's  first  day  at  school  came  and  went,  as 


176  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

all  other  days  are  certain  to  do,  and  that  evening  his 
mother  had  a  little  talk  with  him  about  his  new  ex- 
perience. 

**  Tell  me  all  about  it,  Paul/*  said  his  mother.  "  How 
did  you  get  along?  " 

''  I  didn't  get  along  at  all/'  was  the  reply. 

"  Why,  Paul,  what  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  What  did 
you  do  ?  " 

"Didn't  do  nothing!" 

"  Didn't  do  anything  ?  Child,  what  do  you  mean  ?  I 
want  to  know  all  about  it." 

''They  didn't  give  me  nothing  to  do;  only  to  just  sit 
there.  And  I  can't  waste  my  time  that  way/'  said  little 
Paul,  who  from  his  father's  incessant  activity  seems  to 
think  that  not  to  be  doing  something  with  all  your  might 
is  a  most  sinful  waste  of  the  golden  moments. 

By  the  way,  the  very  day  on  which  Paul  was  born 
his  father  had  to  leave  home  to  begin  a  meeting  at  Gibson 
City,  111.  Paul  was  born  at  seven-thirty  in  the  morning, 
and  an  hour  later  Mr.  Sunday  had  to  grab  up  his  suitcase 
and  make  a  dash  for  the  railroad  depot,  without  stopping 
to  even  form  a  speaking  acquaintance  with  the  boy. 

When  Willie  was  born  the  situation  was  even  less  de- 
sirable, for  Sunday  was  up  to  his  eyes  in  a  meeting  at 
Harlan,  Iowa,  and  didn't  get  to  see  the  new  baby  until 
it  was  ten  days  old,  and  had  taken  command  of  the  entire 
household. 

This  shows  how  little  an  evangelist  is  able  to  control 
his  own  movements  or  consult  his  own  feelings.  The 
importance  of  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged  is  so 
great  and  far  reaching,  and  the  interests  at  stake  so 
widespread  and  multitudinous,  and  his  own  personal  and 
family  affairs  of  such  slight  consequence  in  comparison, 
that  he  must  anoint  his  altar  with  the  blood  of  sacrifice, 


HOME  AND  FAMILY  AFFAIRS  177 

and  go  straight  on  in  the  Hne  of  duty,  no  matter  how 
trying  or  difficult  he  may  find  the  task. 

WiUie  has  always  been  a  natural  born  explorer.  Al- 
most from  the  cradle  he  has  shown  a  tendency  to  investi- 
gate that  could  not  be  suppressed.  From  the  time  he 
was  a  very  little  boy  anything  that  was  new  and  strange 
was  like  the  call  of  the  wild  to  him.  He  could  no  more 
be  kept  from  trying  to  investigate  than  Lieut.  Peary 
could  be  kept  from  trying  to  reach  the  North  Pole. 

Every  town  to  which  Willie  went  with  his  parents  was 
a  new  world  that  he  was  as  eager  to  explore  as  Columbus 
was  to  discover  America.  In  making  the  rounds  of  the 
stores  with  his  father's  party,  he  was  always  slipping 
away  to  make  side  explorations  on  his  own  account.  The 
singular  thing  about  it  is  that  he  could  find  his  way  and 
keep  his  bearings  like  a  greyhound,  and  was  never  lost. 
He  would  turn  up  again  when  least  expected.  He  would 
glide  from  counter  to  counter,  and  from  floor  to  floor 
until  he  had  covered  the  plant,  and  then  he  was  ready 
to  go  to  another  place. 

When  Willie  was  about  six  years  old  Mr.  Sunday  went 
to  visit  his  assistant,  in  another  part  of  the  city,  taking 
the  boy  along.  While  the  men  were  talking  the  little 
fellow  went  all  over  the  house,  from  cellar  to  attic,  and 
came  into  the  room  through  a  door  that  the  occupant 
himself  had  not  previously  noticed. 

After  a  day  or  two  in  a  new  town  the  little  chap  could 
go  anywhere  alone.  Had  not  the  North  and  South  Poles 
been  already  discovered,  it  is  almost  certain  that  Willie 
would  sooner  or  later  have  found  them  both. 

Both  Willie  and  Paul  were  born  on  the  same  day  of 
the  week,  and  the  same  day  of  the  month.  Willie  was 
born  on  Saturday,  June  15,  1901,  and  Paul  on  Saturday,. 
June  15,  1907. 


178  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Helen  was  born  on  January  29,  1890,  while  her  father 
was  still  playing  ball.  She  is  married,  and  lives  at  Elm- 
hurst,  near  Chicago.     She  is  now  Mrs.  Mark  P.  Haines. 

George  was  born  November  12,  1892,  while  his  father 
was  Secretary  of  the  Religious  Department  of  the  Chicago 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  His  full  name  is  George  Marquis,  the  latter 
name  being  in  honor  of  an  old  pastor  of  the  family. 
George  is  also  married. 

The  Sundays  first  began  housekeeping  in  Chicago  at 
700  Monroe  street,  in  a  four-room  flat.  Here  they  lived 
two  years,  and  until  after  Helen  was  born.  They  then 
removed  to  a  larger  flat,  at  64  Throop  street,  and  here 
their  other  three  children  were  born.  This  continued  to 
be  their  home  until  1910,  when  they  built  their  present 
home  at  Winona  Lake,  Ind.  They  had,  however,  had 
a  summer  cottage  there  for  something  like  ten  years  be- 
fore this. 

The  South  Bend  Tribune  published  an  article  giving 
the  following  information: 

"  A  slender  man,  roughly  dressed  in  old  clothes,  was 
at  work  on  the  hillside  lawn  in  front  of  the  cozy  home 
of  Billy  Sunday,  at  Winona  Lake,  one  day  when  a  couple 
of  visitors  called  to  see  the  famous  baseball  evangelist. 
They  were  newspaper  men  from  South  Bend,  sent  to 
learn  something  of  the  home  life  of  the  Sundays. 

"  Is  this  the  home  of  Mr.  Sunday  ?  "  asked  the  two  in 
chorus  of  the  man,  whom  they  took  to  be  the  gardener. 

"  Yes,  he  lives  here,"  was  the  laconic  answer,  as  he 
motioned  toward  the  house,  and  scarcely  raised  his  head. 

"  Who  wants  to  see  him  ?  " 

"  A  couple  of  newspaper  men." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  To  see  Mr.  Sunday." 

"  All  right ;  look  at  him.    Here  he  is." 


HOME  AND  FAMILY  AFFAIRS  179 

And  as  he  spoke,  the  evangelist,  who  looked  much 
more  like  a  laboring  man  than  a  preacher,  in  the  clothes 
he  wore,  turned  half  around  and  regarded  his  visitors 
narrowly  from  under  the  brim  of  a  tattered  hat. 

"  We  wanted  to  find  out  something  in  advance  con- 
cerning your  meetings,"  one  of  the  men  suggested. 

"  I  know  of  nothing,"  said  the  man  in  the  old  clothes, 
as  he  turned  on  his  heel  and  walked  away. 

Apparently  the  interview  was  over,  but  it  was  plain 
after  he  had  taken  several  turns  up  and  down  the  lawn, 
that  this  was  just  one  of  his  old  habits  of  moving  about 
nervously  as  he  talks. 

"How  about  your  arrangement  of  sermons?"  one  of 
them  queried,  as  he  turned  and  approached  again. 

*'  There  is  none.  I  don't  have  any,"  and  he  was  off 
again. 

Again  it  looked  as  if  the  interview  were  over.  Sunday 
displayed  no  further  interest  in  his  callers,  and  they 
strolled  nervously  about  on  the  lawn,  as  he  dodged  here 
and  there  among  the  bushes  and  flower  beds,  removing 
dead  branches  and  twigs  that  had  collected  during  the 
winter. 

There  was  a  long,  painful  silence. 

Then  suddenly  the  wiry  man  straightened  up,  and  it 
was  here  he  displayed  the  first  sign  of  interest. 

"  How  are  things  in  South  Bend^,  anyway?  "  he  asked, 
looking  from  one  of  his  visitors  to  the  other.  "  Do  the 
people  appear  interested  in  the  coming  revival  ?  " 

"  They  do." 

The  reply  undoubtedly  pleased  him,  for  when  he  spoke 
again  he  showed  his  pleasure  with  a  broad  smile. 

Then  there  was  something  said  about  the  "  booze 
crowd  "  in  South  Bend,  and  the  ice  was  broken. 

Sunday  spoke  at  length,  and  with  his  well-known  vigor. 


180  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

concerning  the  "  booze  crowd,"  his  arch  enemy  the  world 
over,  and  when  he  had  finished  his  manner  was  entirely 
changed.  With  much  animation  he  shouted  to  his  wife 
that  a  couple  of  newspaper  men  had  come  to  see  them, 
whereupon  the  woman  who  is  his  guiding  star,  his  most 
private  secretary  and  all-around  adviser,  appeared. 

Two  minutes  of  conversation  with  Mr.  Sunday,  and  as 
much  more  with  his  better  half,  would  reveal  to  the 
dullest  mind  that  she  has  been  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  changing  a  ball  player  into  one  of  the  greatest 
evangelists  of  modern  times. 

Mr.  Sunday  forgets  names,  dates  and  faces,  and  any 
number  of  other  things,  and  his  wife  remembers  them 
for  him.  He  forgets  where  he  puts  important  telegrams 
and  other  papers,  and  she  finds  them  for  him.  He  calls 
her  to  do  this,  and  asks  her  about  that,  and  with  a  smile 
that  never  loses  its  luster,  she  always  responds. 

Mrs.  Sunday  shook  hands  with  the  visitors  with  a 
cordial  manner  that  spelled  welcome.  Then  there  sud- 
denly appeared  two  energetic  small  boys,  neither  of  which 
could  stand  still  a  minute.  The  oldest  wanted  his  tennis 
racket,  and  the  other  something  to  eat.  Their  wants 
were  supplied,  and  later  they  appeared  again,  with  a  grin 
that  told  they  had  not  been  disappointed. 

"  What  would  you  say  to  posing  for  some  pictures  ?  " 
was  asked  the  evangelist  and  Mrs.  Sunday. 

"  It's  the  easiest  thing  I  do,"  said  he,  as  he  threw  him- 
self into  position  for  a  snapshot  on  the  steps  of  his 
residence. 

"  Daddy,  you  wouldn't  have  your  picture  taken  in  that 
outfit?"  cried  his  wife,  womanlike,  and  horrified. 

"Sure.  Why  not?"  And  in  "that  outfit"  he  was 
taken. 

The  next  few  minutes  were  occupied  in  photographing 


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HOME  AND  FAMILY  AFFAIRS  181 

the  Sunday  family  in  various  places  and  poses.  In  one 
Billy  sat  in  the  swing  fondling  his  valuable  dog,  and  in 
another  he  appeared  beside  the  cage  of  the  family  parrot. 
When  the  picture  taking  was  completed  he  had  become  a 
most  gracious  host. 

"  Come  in,  and  look  through  my  forty-thousand  dollar 
house,"  said  he,  laughing ;  "  the  house  that  cost  me  ex- 
actly thirty-eight  hundred  dollars  to  build." 

Inside  he  explained  the  forty-thousand  dollar  connec- 
tion with  his  residence. 

"  Mrs.  Sunday  and  I  always  call  it  our  forty-thousand 
dollar  home,"  said  he,  "  because  the  *  booze  crowd '  have 
advertised  it  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other, 
as  having  cost  me  that.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that 
it  cost  me  exactly  thirty-eight  hundred  dollars,  and  I 
spent  about  a  thousand  dollars  in  addition  on  interior 
decorations.  So  it  is  an  investment  of  just  about  five 
thousand  dollars,  just  an  eighth  of  the  amount  charged 
against  me  by  the  '  booze  gang,'  and  that  is  about  as  close 
as  they  ever  come  to  the  truth  in  anything. 

"  We  think  we  have  it  right  cozy  here,"  said  Sunday, 
as  he  dropped  into  an  easy  chair  near  the  door,  and  a 
better  word  could  not  be  found  in  the  dictionary  to 
describe  the  Sunday  home.     It  is  cozy  all  over. 

It  is  ideally  planned,  and  so  filled  with  pretty  things 
that  you  want  to  ask  Billy  if  he  is  ever  tempted  to  remain 
at  home  for  the  balance  of  his  life.  The  question  un- 
asked was  answered  indirectly  soon  afterward,  when 
Mrs.  Sunday  volunteered  the  information  that  "  Daddy 
always  dreaded  to  leave  it  again  after  a  rest  there." 

The  entire  front  of  the  house  is  taken  up  with  one 
large  living-room,  finished  and  furnished  elegantly.  It 
is  a  combination  of  parlor,  sitting-room,  den  and  music 
room.    A  wide  hallway  runs  from  this  room  to  the  rear 


182  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

of  the  house,  and  this  has  been  turned  into  quite  a  picture 
gallery.  On  the  walls  hang  many  fine  enlargements  of 
various  members  of  the  family;  oils  painted  by  Mrs. 
Sunday  several  years  ago,  and  other  pictures  of  merit 
and  interest. 

The  house  has  two  stories,  and  astonishes  you  at  the 
number  of  good-sized  rooms  it  contains.  There  are  sev- 
eral bedchambers  and  two  sleeping  porches.  The  other 
rooms  are  furnished  on  practically  the  same  scale  as  the 
front  room,  all  having  beautiful  rugs  on  the  floors. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sunday  are  proud  of  their  Winona 
home,  and  they  make  no  effort  to  conceal  their  pride. 
The  Sundays  there  are  as  different  from  the  Sundays  of 
the  tabernacle  as  day  and  night. 

Sunday  in  the  pulpit  is  a  fiery  orator ;  a  magnetic  figure 
who  commands  men;  a  son  of  thunder  who  utters  words 
of  fire,  that  are  sometimes  far  from  being  conventional. 
In  his  home  he  is  a  quiet,  orderly  sort  of  person,  who 
romps  with  his  children,  pets  his  dog,  and  makes  a  com- 
panion and  chum  of  his  wife. 

Catching  sight  of  Sunday  moving  restlessly  about  in 
front  of  his  home,  collarless,  and  with  his  coat  collar 
turned  up  and  pinned  about  his  throat,  one  has  the  im- 
pression he  is  looking  at  an  invalid,  who  is  just  receiving 
his  first  breath  of  fresh  air  after  a  long  confinement 
indoors.  He  moves  rapidly  about  among  the  shrubbery, 
paying  no  attention  to  those  about  him,  unless  he  is  ad- 
dressed, or  finds  interest  in  the  conversation. 

This  is  the  picture  he  presented  on  the  lawn  in  front 
of  his  home  that  day,  but  the  photograph  taken  at  that 
time  shows  quite  a  different  sort  of  man.  Before  he  had 
his  old  white  hat  drawn  down  over  his  eyes,  but  in  the 
picture  the  hat  is  gone  and  the  face  is  shown. 

That  face  is  the  strongest  thing  about  his  appearance. 


HOME  AND  FAMILY  AFFAIRS  ISS 

The  life  of  Billy  Sunday,  and  his  success  as  an  evan- 
gelist, is  written  on  his  countenance.  He  has  piercing 
eyes,  which  reveal  his  various  emotions.  He  has  an  un- 
usually plentiful  stock  of  hair  for  a  man  fifty  years  old, 
and  his  chin  is  normal. 

He  and  his  wife  walked  down  to  the  Winona  traction 
station  with  their  visitors,  he  going  for  the  exercise 
and  she  to  meet  a  friend  coming  in  on  the  car. 

Both  were  in  a  talkative  mood,  and  had  much  to  say 
of  Winona;  the  pretty  place  it  is  in  the  summertime, 
and  the  difficulties  encountered  in  cleaning  it  up  every 
year  for  the  warm  weather  season.  When  Sunday  does 
talk,  it  is  with  much  animation. 

He  had  many  of  the  Winona  college  students  at  work 
on  the  grounds,  putting  them  in  order.  He  pays  them 
out  of  his  own  pocket,  and  in  return  for  this  has  the 
pleasure  of  directing  their  work,  and  having  things  done 
to  suit  him.  The  most  of  the  students  he  knew  by  their 
first  names,  and  nearly  all  of  them  greeted  him  as  "  Pro- 
fessor." 

Mrs.  Sunday  has  been  a  greater  traveler  than  her 
husband,  in  so  far  as  mileage  goes,  for  in  almost  every 
meeting  she  has  had  to  fly  like  a  shuttle,  back  and  forth 
between  the  tabernacle  and  home.  Many  women  claim 
that  they  have  sometimes  had  to  live  for  weeks  in  a 
trunk,  but  Mrs.  Sunday  has  often  had  to  do  the  same 
in  a  suitcase.  Indeed,  she  almost  has  to  keep  one  packed 
and  ready  to  fly  at  a  moment's  notice  to  the  place  from 
which  the  hurry  call  comes. 

When  she  is  at  hom.e,  along  comes  a  telegram  or  a 
long  distance  call,  saying  she  is  badly  needed  at  the  front, 
and  she  has  to  put  on  her  hat,  and  without  waiting  to 
see  whether  it  is  on  straight  or  not,  do  some  lively  sprint- 
ing to  make  the  train.    And  then,  sometimes  almost  before 


184  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

she  has  had  time  to  become  rested  from  the  long  trip, 
the  wires  begin  from  the  other  end,  and  bring  the  Hvely 
news  that  one  of  the  boys  has  broken  a  leg,  got  the  short 
end  of  a  wishbone  fast  in  his  throat  or  been  almost 
drowned  while  boating  on  the  lake,  and  again  she  must 
grab  up  her  hat  and  put  it  on  in  the  hack,  as  the  horses 
gallop  for  the  depot. 

You  will  know  what  a  wonderful  woman  she  is  when 
we  tell  you  that  these  emergency  calls  never  flurry  her. 
She  keeps  her  head  and  her  wits,  and  goes  right  on 
in  the  line  of  duty,  without  ever  once  breaking  step, 
with  a  calmness  and  deliberation  that  do  honor  to  her 
Scotch  heritage.  Cupid  certainly  did  a  good  day's  work 
when  he  caused  Billy  to  lose  his  heart  to  a  lassie  whose 
parents  were  born  in  the  Highlands. 

While  in  a  meeting  six  years  ago  it  was  found  that 
one  of  the  boys  would  have  to  be  operated  on  for  appen- 
dicitis, and  while  the  campaign  was  on  at  Wichita,  Kan., 
Mrs.  Sunday  had  to  scorch  back  to  the  home  at  Winona 
Lake,  because  Willie  had  broken  a  leg.  While  she  was 
helping  Mr.  Sunday  in  the  campaign  at  Erie,  Pa.,  she 
had  to  take  a  fast  train,  and  do  it  quick,  for  Ames,  Iowa, 
where  George  was  in  college,  and  take  the  young  man 
to  Rochester,  Minn.,  for  a  surgical  operation. 

The  children  are  strong  and  healthy,  and  every  one 
of  them  has  the  energy  of  a  dynamo,  but  accidents  will 
happen,  you  know,  and  with  Billy's  boys  no  prophet  can 
ever  tell  just  when  or  how. 


XVII 

RESULTS  OF  MEETINGS  IN  VARIOUS 
PLACES 

4  LL  things  considered,  the  greatest  meeting  held  by 
A\  Mr.  Sunday  so  far,  was  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in 
■*-  -^  January  and  February  of  1913.  Eighteen  thou- 
sand conversions  were  recorded,  and  twelve  thousand 
of  these  had  united  with  churches  within  two  weeks 
of  the  close  of  the  campaign.  The  following  summing 
up  of  this  meeting  was  given  by  a  correspondent  of  the 
Western  Christian  Advocate,  a  most  conservative  paper : 

*'  The  Sunday  meetings  have  closed  in  Columbus,  Ohio, 
with  the  unanimous  judgment  that  all  previous  evangelis- 
tic records,  in  point  of  number  of  converts,  and  in  funds 
raised,  have  been  eclipsed.  The  meeting  continued 
through  seven  weeks,  and  every  day  the  interest  increased 
until  the  entire  city  was  held  in  its  grasp.  It  is  said  that 
every  department  of  the  city's  activities  was  influenced. 

"  The  straightening  up  of  men's  lives  meant  the  arous- 
ing of  the  sense  of  obligation  and  feeling  of  honesty. 
Old  debts  were  paid  to  grocerymen  and  other  parties 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  became  a  matter  of  public  notice 
and  commendation  of  the  spirit  of  the  revival.  If  this 
is  one  of  the  results  of  Mr.  Sunday's  meetings,  it  fur- 
nishes a  recommendation  that  will  appeal  to  business  men. 
There  are  many  communities  where  such  a  meeting  would 
be  welcomed  by  the  hard-headed  business  men,  who  are 
carrying  on  their  books  hundreds  of  dollars  against  fam- 

185 


186  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

ilies  belonging  to  the  church.  One  of  the  greatest  rec- 
ommendations for  modern  revivaHsm  is  its  power  to 
awaken  men  to  their  obhgation  to  pay  their  debts. 

*'  Every  walk  of  life  was  influenced.  It  could  not  be 
resisted.  It  went  into  every  office,  every  shop,  every  home, 
every  street.  It  claimed  converts  in  every  profession. 
The  police  of  the  city  were  captured.  Every  policeman 
placed  on  duty  at  the  tabernacle  '*  hit  the  sawdust  trail." 
The  chief  himself,  seated  on  the  platform,  made  a  hearty 
and  open  confession  of  Christ.  Lawyers,  physicians,  mer- 
chants, artisans  of  every  description,  all  gave  their  quota 
to  the  harvest  of  the  evangelist.  One  pastor  writes :  '  The 
work  cannot  be  conservatively  and  sanely  described.  It 
would  be  like  trying  to  describe  a  cyclone  when  you  are 
in  the  midst  of  its  fury.* 

"  Men  and  women  were  carried  off  their  feet.  Men 
who  had  never  listened  to  a  religious  appeal,  surrendered 
to  the  call  of  Christ.  Many  who  had  hated  evangelism 
and  feared  the  gospel  were  caught  in  the  throes  of  de- 
cision. The  total  number  of  converts  during  the  cam- 
paign was  eighteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

*'  There  were  ninety-five  tabernacle  meetings  held,  and 
the  aggregate  attendance  was  nearly  a  million  people. 
On  the  last  Saturday  night  four  thousand  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons  attended  the  meeting,  led  by  two  bands 
of  music.  This  demonstration  revealed  one  of  the  great 
powers  of  the  evangelist.  All  manner  of  secular  influ- 
ences may  be  carried  into  his  meetings,  but  they  do  not 
affect  the  situation.  He  picks  up  the  burden,  and  like  a 
Samson  walks  off  with  it.  Nothing  seems  to  be  great 
enough  to  eclipse  the  spiritual  influence.  The  larger  the 
crowd  the  greater  the  results.  A  choir  of  two  thousand 
voices  and  the  prayers  of  sixty  churches  is  a  tremendous 
support  for  any  preacher  of  the  gospel. 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES    187 

"  On  the  last  Sabbath  people  were  standing  at  the 
tabernacle  doors  before  eight  o'clock,  with  their  dinner 
baskets  on  their  arms,  there  to  spend  the  day.  At  nine 
o'clock  Mr.  Sunday  preached  to  the  prisoners  in  the 
State  Prison,  with  splendid  results;  fifteen  hundred  men 
responding  to  his  appeal.  The  crowd  at  the  morning 
service  was  a  jam,  but  marvelous  for  spiritual  uplift. 
In  the  afternoon  the  attendance  upon  the  men's  meeting 
was  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred,  the  greatest  number 
of  men  ever  present  at  a  religious  meeting  at  one  time. 

"  Simultaneously  with  the  men's  meeting  Mrs.  Sunday 
addressed  a  mass  meeting  of  women  which  numbered 
thousands  in  attendance.  The  evening  service  was  one 
great  rally  of  the  forces  and  converts,  which  resulted  for 
the  day's  work  in  twenty-three  hundred  and  thirty-one 
conversions,  aggregating  eighteen  thousand  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine,  and  the  raising  of  $20,795.62  for  the 
expenses  of  the  campaign. 

"  This  is  registered  as  the  universal  judgment:  '  Every 
one  was  tired;  every  one  was  happy';  every  one  was  sat- 
isfied.' This  further  result  must  also  be  registered :  The 
reinstatement  of  evangelistic  methods  into  favor  in  the 
minds  of  men,  and  the  popularizing  of  personal  approach 
in  matters  of  religion;  and  this  final  word,  that  faith 
in  the  response  of  men  to  the  religious  appeal  has  been 
greatly  heightened." 

The  Ohio  State  Journal,  a  daily  paper  which  freely 
and  sympathetically  featured  the  meeting,  gave  this  judg- 
ment at  the  close : 

"  In  the  opinion  of  men  who  have  studied  the  cam- 
paigns of  great  revivalists,  this  record  surpasses  all  figures 
thus  far  compiled  in  the  United  States  and  abroad,  and 
may  be  taken  as  the  greatest  evangelistic  demonstration 
of  modern  times.    For  more  than  seven  weeks  hundreds 


188  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

of  business  men  had  neglected  their  private  affairs ;  for 
an  equal  period  social  engagements  were  disregarded  or 
side-tracked;  for  that  length  of  time  sixty  churches  had 
closed  their  doors,  the  pastors  had  devoted  the  most  of 
their  time  to  advancing  the  work  of  the  campaign,  and 
during  all  those  days  the  Rev.  Billy  Sunday,  the  baseball 
evangelist,  had  talked  and  prayed,  sweated  and  pranced 
about  the  platform,  besought  and  entreated  with  sinners, 
flayed  with  scalding  invective  every  sort  of  wickedness, 
and  endeared  himself  personally  to  multitudes  who  either 
had  been  openly  or  covertly  antagonistic.  Under  the  spell 
of  his  oratory  and  the  persuasive  influence  of  his  co- 
workers, all  manner  of  men  were  made  to  take  a  new 
view  of  life.  City  and  county  officials,  saloon-keepers 
and  professors,  society  women  and  shop-girls,  school 
children  and  avowed  agnostics  stood  up  and  said,  '  I  pub- 
licly accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  personal  Saviour.' " 

And  this  from  another  issue  of  the  same  paper: 

"  Now  that  the  Sunday  meetings  are  over,  it  may  be 
well  to  take  an  account  of  stock.  Mr.  Sunday  has  been 
given  a  hearing  that  has  not  been  rivaled  in  the  history 
of  the  church.  It  is  very  important  that  a  hearing  should 
be  obtained,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  Rev.  William 
Sunday's  peculiarities  of  style  may  have  made  this  feature 
successful.  At  any  rate  twice  as  many  people  went  to 
hear  him  as  could  gain  admission  to  his  great  tabernacle. 

*'  The  advantage  that  Mr.  Sunday  took  of  these  great 
throngs  was  to  preach  a  religion  of  life  and  not  of  doc- 
trine. He  had  his  doctrine,  but  its  underlying  lesson  was 
that  of  a  pure  and  honest  life.  No  man  ever  brought  to 
the  masses  the  alternative  of  right  and  wrong,  of  decency 
and  disgrace,  of  purity  and  vice,  as  did  Rev.  Sunday 
in  proclaiming  his  doctrine. 

"  As  a  result  of  his  mission  here,  we  should  say  there 


Ph 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES    189 

is  a  stronger  moral  sense  in  this  community  than  there 
ever  was  before ;  and  now,  the  pressing  question  is,  how 
to  preserve  it;  how  to  make  it  vital  in  civic,  religious 
and  business  life.  He  has  made  of  religion  a  thoroughly 
practical  matter,  and  has  made  the  people  feel  it  to  be 
that  way.  And  now  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  one 
who  loves  his  neighbors  and  his  city  to  put  into  practice 
in  his  own  life  the  high  lessons  of  duty  and  honor  and 
faith  which  he  has  been  preaching  to  us  for  the  last  seven 
weeks." 

In  1910  Mr.  Sunday  held  a  meeting  at  Newcastle,  Pa. 
Two  years  later  the  following  was  published  by  the  News 
of  that  city,  written  by  Rev.  A.  B.  McCormick,  a  Pres- 
byterian pastor,  who  frankly  confesses  that  he  had  been 
much  prejudiced  against  Sunday  before  the  holding  of 
the  meeting: 

"  In  a  city  of  nearly  forty  thousand  there  have  been 
only  eighty-three  arrests  in  the  past  two  months !  There 
is  no  open  saloon  in  either  city  or  county.  And  this  must 
largely  be  credited  to  Mr.  Sunday's  preaching  in  general, 
and  to  his  famous  '  booze  sermon '  in  particular.  At  its 
close  about  six  thousand  men  pledged  themselves  to 
stand  against  alcohol  at  their  first  opportunity. 

**  Our  churches  are  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Two 
large  buildings  are  in  process  of  erection.  Four  churches 
have  been  enlarged.  Several  others  have  been  repaired 
and  re-decorated.  Four  have  purchased  new  organs. 
Others  have  paid  debts  of  long  standing.  A  new  hundred- 
thousand-dollar  Y.  I\L  C.  A.  building  has  been  erected. 
A  whirlwind  campaign  for  fifteen  hundred  members  for 
it  resulted  in  securing  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty-five. 
A  Rescue  Mission  has  been  established,  and  the  people 
have  rallied  to  its  support.  It  is  open  every  night  in 
the  week,  and  many  remarkable  conversions  are  reported. 


190  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

A  band  of  personal  workers,  most  of  whom  were  Sunday 
converts,  have  carried  the  message  of  personal  evangelism 
to  many  communities,  and  have  been  blessed  of  God  in 
conducting  some  genuine  revivals.  One  of  them  has  be- 
come an  evangelist,  and  has  just  closed  a  successful  cam- 
paign. The  movement  for  Christian  unity  has  received 
great  impetus.  The  people  of  the  various  churches  wor- 
ship and  work  together  in  a  harmony  delightful  to  witness. 

"  The  revival  was  worth  while.  The  Lord  sets  his 
seal  to  Mr.  Sunday's  preaching.  He  knows  but  one  gos- 
pel— '  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.'  It  is  still  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation.  May  God  bless  him,  and 
save  him  for  many  years  of  evangelism." 

In  the  winter  of  1908  a  Sunday  meeting  was  held  at 
Decatur,  111.,  which  beat  all  the  records  up  to  that  time. 
A  year  later  a  correspondent  of  a  Chicago  paper  visited 
Decatur,  and  had  this  to  say  about  the  results  of  the 
meeting : 

"  The  church  life  of  the  city  is  unusually  well  estab- 
lished. Few  places  of  thirty  thousand  can  boast  so  many 
fine  church  buildings,  and  new  pastors  coming  to  the 
community  recognize  at  once  that  the  church  work  is 
remarkably  well  supported,  and  engages  the  energies 
of  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  prominent  business  and 
professional  men.  On  the  subject  the  pastors  were  a 
unit.  Though  some  voted  for  Mr.  Sunday  with  great 
reluctance,  fearing  the  sensationalism  of  his  work,  they 
all  accepted  the  final  decision  heartily,  and  entered  into 
the  meetings  with  the  determination  to  reap  the  largest 
possible  return.  Finally,  the  work  of  preparation  was 
thoroughly  done.  The  evangelist  came  into  a  field  which 
had  been  thoroughly  brought  to  the  most  perfect  degree 
of  ripeness,  and  was  met  by  laborers  with  their  sleeves 
rolled  up. 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES         191 

"  After  discounting  the  reports  of  the  newspapers  to 
the  limit,  on  the  score  of  local  pride,  it  must  still  be  con- 
ceded that  the  Decatur  meetings  were  notable  in  the 
history  of  modern  evangelism.  The  huge  tabernacle  was 
packed  afternoon  and  evening  throughout  the  whole  six 
weeks,  and  on  Sunday  afternoons,  when  Sunday  spoke 
to  men  alone,  as  many  as  six  thousand  men  were  crowded 
inside. 

"  People  flocked  into  the  city  from  Bloomington,  and 
even  farther,  and  the  local  papers  within  a  radius  of 
twenty  miles  reported  additions  to  their  churches  when 
the  meetings  closed.  It  is  easily  possible  in  a  city  of 
this  size  to  have  even  so  large  a  meeting  in  progress  in 
one  corner  and  not  affect  greatly  the  life  and  activity  of 
the  town,  but  it  was  not  so  in  Decatur.  The  newspapers 
turned  their  pages  over  bodily  to  the  report  of  the  meet- 
ing, printing  from  twelve  to  fifteen  columns  a  day,  and 
making  special  subscription  offers  which  added  thousands 
of  short  term  subscribers  to  their  lists.  There  were  no 
social  engagements.  Lodges  did  not  meet,  and  study, 
both  in  the  schools  and  the  University,  was  maintained 
only  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 

"  Near  the  close  interest  in  the  meeting  took  on  added 
zest,  as  it  was  seen  that  the  record  of  Bloomington,  the 
rival  of  Decatur,  was  to  be  equaled  and  passed.  It  be- 
came a  matter  of  earnest  community  effort  that  the  meet- 
ings should  attain  a  huge  success.  Men  closed  their 
places  of  business  at  the  evangelist's  request,  and  came 
to  swell  the  attendance  figures.  Even  baseball  gave  way 
before  the  tidal  wave.  Sunday  and  sin  and  salvation  were 
literally  the  sole  topics  of  conversation. 

"  Out  of  this  there  came  six  thousand  two  hundred  and 
nine  converts,  and  an  offering  to  Mr.  Sunday  amounting 


192  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

to  $11,379.56,  the  largest  amount  he  had  ever  received. 
The  results  of  such  a  meeting  are  to  be  measured  by 
their  effect  on  the  churches  first,  and  then  on  the  life 
and  the  thought  of  the  town.  In  all  cases  the  second 
of  these  measurements  is  hardest  to  make.  But  in  Deca- 
tur it  is  its  effect  on  the  city  life  which  is  most  prominent ; 
the  thing  which  one  is  compelled  to  recognize.  It  rises 
up  to  confront  you,  whether  you  talk  with  the  mayor 
or  the  bootblack.  It  is  written  all  over  the  police  records 
and  the  polling  booths,  and  he  that  runs  may  read.  I 
had  to  talk  to  a  good  many  men  before  I  was  willing  to 
admit  this.  But  when,  after  a  dozen  interviews,  in  which 
a  dozen  business  men  had  told  me  the  same  thing,  I  sat 
in  the  office  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  and 
politicians  in  the  city,  and  heard  him  say,  *  I  do  not  think 
that  any  man  can  measure  the  permanent  good  which 
Mr.  Sunday  did  this  town,'  I  ceased  objecting,  and  was 
convinced. 

**  I  suggested  to  the  proprietor  of  a  gents'  furnishing 
store  that  Billy  Sunday  is  a  grafter,  just  to  see  what  he 
would  do,  and  I  had  to  take  it  all  back  before  he  would 
sell  me  a  shirt.  The  bootblacks  said,  *  He  is  the  only 
man  who  ever  came  to  Decatur  who  prayed  for  every- 
body ! '  The  telephone  girls  wanted  to  chip  in  something 
for  Billy  because  '  he  prayed  for  us.' 

"  The  business  man  who  is  leading  the  largest  faction 
of  the  now  disorganized  Republican  party,  said :  *  If  there 
should  be  a  proposition  to  invite  Sunday  here  again,  we 
could  form  as  strong  a  committee  as  we  had  before,  and 
form  it  entirely  outside  of  the  churches.' 

''  So  much  for  the  sentiment  of  the  town  toward  Sunday 
and  the  effect  of  his  work  on  its  life.  Twelve  churches 
united  in  inviting  him  to  Decatur,  and  stood  solidly  be- 
hind him  through  it  all.    But  the  interesting  thing  is  that 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES         19S 

even  the  churches  which  did  not  co-operate  could  not 
escape  some  measure  of  the  result." 

The  following  is  from  the  South  Bend  Tribune: 

"  The  greatest  religious  revival  in  Indiana  is  now 
history.  For  seven  weeks  South  Bend,  Mishawaka  and 
surrounding  territory  have  been  stirred  as  never  before. 
Six  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety-eight  persons 
have  taken  Billy  Sunday  by  the  hand,  thereby  signifying 
their  intention  of  living  new  lives.  How  many  others 
of  the  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  who  attended 
the  meetings  have  inwardly  made  the  same  resolve,  no 
one  can  say.  Nor  can  any  say  how  many  professing 
Christians  have  been  uplifted  by  the  meetings. 

"  If  there  is  one  thing  that  keeps  alive  religious  life 
and  religious  institutions,  it  is  the  evangelistic  spirit. 
The  permanent  organization  of  a  *  personal  workers' 
league '  among  men  is  a  prophecy  of  greater  and  more 
effective  church  work  in  South  Bend  and  Mishawaka 
than  ever  before.  These  men  have  joined  themselves  and 
pledged  their  services  in  assisting  the  pastors  in  keeping 
alive  the  evangelistic  fires.  If  they  persist  in  their  pur- 
pose the  churches  will  not  become  '  religious  ice  boxes/ 
as  Mr.  Sunday  calls  them. 

"  The  revival  has  meant  much  to  South  Bend  and 
Mishawaka  in  an  economic  sense.  Saloon  men  themselves 
estimate  their  business  in  the  two  cities  has  fallen  off  forty 
per  cent.  It  is  stated  on  good  authority,  that  last  week, 
notwithstanding  the  hot  weather,  ten  thousand  more 
pounds  of  meat  were  brought  to  South  Bend  than  usual. 
If  figures  could  be  obtained  the  same  showing  would 
undoubtedly  be  made  for  Mishawaka.  Merchants  have 
been  surprised  to  see  old,  outlawed  accounts  paid  up, 
and  '  conscience  money  '  has  been  paid  for  stolen  articles. 
One  merchant  as  far  away  as  Elwood,   Ind.,   felt  the 


194  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

results  of  the  meetings  when  he  received  two  dollars  for 
a  knife  stolen  years  ago.  Family  quarrels  have  been 
adjusted;  family  friendships  have  been  cemented:  family 
altars  erected.  These  are  evidences  of  quickened  indi- 
vidual consciences,  and  quickened  individual  consciences 
will  surely  mean  quickened  social  consciences,  which  mean 
more  attention  paid  to  matters  of  government,  and  better 
enforcement  of  law. 

"  The  religious  revival  has  done  much  for  South  Bend, 
Mishawaka  and  the  surrounding  territory  in  a  religious 
and  economic  way,  but  its  beneficence  does  not  stop  there. 
The  spirit  of  giving  has  been  spread  abroad.  Hundreds 
of  persons  who  never  before  contributed  to  any  cause, 
have  had  a  part  in  bearing  the  expense  of  the  meeting. 
That  very  fact  has  encouraged  the  development  of  a 
spirit  of  municipal  solidarity.  Local  pride  has  been 
captured  in  the  fields  where  it  was  running  wild,  utterly 
useless,  and  has  been  harnessed  and  put  to  work.  South 
Bend  and  Mishawaka  have  pulled  together  as  they  never 
have  before,  with  the  result  that  there  has  come  about 
a  better  understanding  and  a  better  feeling.  It  has 
shown  that  team  work  pays.  Because  these  cities  have 
seen  fit  to  '  desire  earnestly  the  better  things,'  many 
others  have  been  added  unto  them  also." 

The  Record  of  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  sums  up  results 
there  in  this  way : 

"  A  review  of  the  seven  weeks  of  evangelistic  cam- 
paign is  a  mighty  tribute  to  the  extraordinary  genius  and 
talent  of  Mr.  Sunday.  The  number  of  those  who  have 
professed  Christianity  runs  away  up  into  the  thousands, 
and  the  results  in  the  abstract  are  simply  beyond  com- 
prehension. More  thousands  than  those  who  have  '  hit 
the  trail '  will  lead  better  lives.  Their  hearts  have  been 
touched.     Many  of  them  will  be  led  to  join  the  throng 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES         195 

of  active  Christians  after  the  Sunday  party  has  left  the 
city. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  the  people  went 
out  of  curiosity.  They  wanted  to  see  and  hear  the  man 
about  whom  so  much  had  been  said.  Skepticism  pre- 
vailed. Sneers  were  heard  on  every  hand.  It  was 
deemed  impossible  that  a  baseball  player  who  had  drifted 
into  the  ministry  could  move  the  self-complacent,  intelli- 
gent element  in  the  Wyoming  Valley  into  such  a  spirit 
of  religious  enthusiasm  as  was  reported  from  other  places. 
It  seemed  entirely  out  of  the  question.  The  story  of 
to-day  is  the  story  of  a  wonderful  revelation.  The  base- 
ball evangelist  has  accomplished  the  seemingly  impossible. 
The  community  has  been  stirred  from  center  to  circum- 
ference. Skepticism  has  given  way  to  conviction,  and 
conviction  has  been  followed  by  enthusiasm. 

"  The  work  of  Mr.  Sunday  is  on  the  lips  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  the  people.  Already  thousands  of  applica- 
tions for  church  membership  have  been  made,  and  other 
thousands  will  follow.  Hundreds  of  men  who  squan- 
dered their  earnings  and  their  health  in  drunkenness  have 
been  torn  loose  from  the  old  habits.  Hundreds  of  men 
whose  brutality  in  the  midst  of  their  families  was  a  con- 
stant heartbreak  to  distressed  wives  and  terror-stricken 
children,  have  for  the  first  time  shed  the  sunshine  of 
cheer  into  their  homes.  Tens  of  thousands  will  gird  on 
the  armor  of  civic  righteousness,  and  move  forward  to 
do  battle  with  the  forces  of  evil.  The  Wyoming 
Valley  will  be  a  better  place  to  live  in. 

'*  A  man  who  can  accomplish  such  results  is  not  an 
ordinary  man.  His  methods  may  be  unique,  and  he  may 
have  been  advertised  as  no  other  evangelist  has  been 
advertised;  yet  over  and  above  it  all  is  the  fact  that  if 
he  had  not  spoken  the  plain  truth  in  a  way  to  carry 


196  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

conviction  into  the  hearts  of  the  skeptics  and  the  luke- 
warm, the  actual  results  of  his  campaign  in  spiritual 
and  moral  cleansing  would  not  have  been  so  tremen- 
dous, so  astounding.  Say  what  you  will — here  are  the 
results. 

"  At  the  conclusion  of  these  seven  weeks  of  Billy  Sun- 
day, there  is  no  uncertain  answer  to  the  question  pro- 
pounded at  the  outset :  '  Will  he  make  good  ? '  The 
affirmative  answer  comes  in  a  mighty  chorus  from  every 
part  of  the  Valley;  from  homes  made  happier;  from 
men  and  women  reclaimed  and  re-consecrated,  and  from 
tens  of  thousands  who  have  felt  the  touch  of  a  new 
inspiration :  Mr.  Sunday  has  made  good." 

The  following  was  written  by  C.  W.  Laycock,  a  busi- 
ness man  of  Wilkes-Barre,  some  months  after  the  close 
of  the  campaign  there : 

"  The  religious  impressions  made  here  by  the  Billy 
Sunday  campaign  are  so  deep  and  the  work  of  grace  so 
far-reaching  that  one  is  bewildered  by  the  magnitude  of 
the  wonders  God  has  wrought.  Sunday  himself  is  a  won- 
der, but  after  recognizing  all  his  natural  endowments,  and 
allowing  for  the  quickening  of  his  faculties  through  de- 
votion and  consecration  to  a  great  cause,  there  is  some- 
thing more  to  be  accounted  for,  an  influence  which  per- 
vades the  whole  community  for  miles  around. 

'*  To  illustrate :  Twelve  miles  out  in  the  country  a  farm- 
hand who  had  not  been  to  hear  Mr.  Sunday  preach,  nor 
had  he  read  any  of  his  sermons,  heard  that  there  was  a 
great  revival  here  and  many  people  were  being  converted. 
He  was  impressed  with  the  thought  that  something  more 
was  needed  in  his  own  life,  so  he  went  to  a  friend  and 
told  him  that  he  wanted  to  know  how  he  could  find  Jesus 
Christ  and  be  saved.    The  friend  advised  him  to  read  the 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES         197 

book  of  Acts.  This  he  knew  nothing  about,  and  was  in- 
formed that  it  was  in  the  Bible.  He  walked  a  mile  and 
borrowed  a  Bible  from  a  neighbor,  which  he  took  home 
and  read  and  studied  until  his  interest  was  greatly  inten- 
sified; yet  he  was  not  satisfied.  So  he  went  to  the  man 
for  whom  he  worked  and  said  he  must  go  to  Wilkes- 
Barre. 

"  When  asked  how  long  he  would  be  gone  he  said,  '  I 
don't  know.  I  have  a  big  job  on  hand,  and  don't  know 
how  long  it  is  going  to  take.'  He  put  in  his  grip  enough 
food  to  last  a  week  and  went  to  the  railroad  station,  but 
reached  it  too  late  for  the  train.  Rather  than  wait  an- 
other day  he  walked  twelve  miles,  but  did  not  reach  here 
until  after  the  close  of  the  afternoon  meeting  at  the 
tabernacle.  He  finally  found  his  way  to  a  parsonage^ 
and  when  asked  by  the  minister  what  he  wanted,  said :  "  I 
want  somebody  to  tell  me  how  to  find  Christ.'* 

"  The  minister  told  him  he  had  gotten  to  about  the  right 
place,  and  after  some  conversation  and  prayer  the  man 
arose,  his  face  aglow,  and  said :  '  Well,  if  I  had  known 
this  I  wouldn't  have  brought  so  many  victuals  with  me.' 
He  then  went  home  entirely  satisfied.  That  man  is  now 
an  active  member  of  the  church  of  his  choice,  and  is 
teaching  a  Bible  class.  I  mention  this  incident  merely  to 
show  that  God  so  honors  Mr.  Sunday  with  the  presence 
of  His  Spirit  that  when  the  people  fully  co-operate  with 
him,  there  is  manifested  an  influence  which  is  wonderful 
in  its  workings. 

"  Prior  to  the  Sunday  campaign  one  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  in  our  valley  had  an  average 
attendance  of  twelve  to  fifteen  at  its  Sunday  afternoon 
meetings.  Interest  there  has  grown  until  last  Sunday 
there  were  seven  hundred  and  fifty  at  the  afternoon  meet- 
ing, and  what  is  also  interesting  is  that  many  of  these 


198  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

meetings  are  being  led  by  men  who  were  converted  in 
the  Sunday  meetings. 

"  As  far  as  I  can  learn  there  is  no  abatement  of  reli- 
gious interest  and  zeal  among  those  who  were  converted, 
and  many  who  did  not  take  their  stand  on  the  side  of 
Christianity  are  still  talking  about  the  wonderful  things 
that  have  come  to  pass. 

"  Business  men  tell  me  they  have  received  '  conscience 
money '  in  amounts  ranging  from  forty  cents  to  twenty- 
five  dollars.  In  some  instances  the  people  brought  it 
themselves,  and  made  open  confession  of  their  misdoings. 
One  woman  returned  forty  cents  for  goods  she  had  stolen 
fifteen  years  ago.  A  man  who  is  a  clerk  in  a  large  store 
went  to  a  former  employer,  and  confessed  to  having 
stolen  five  dollars  and  thirty-five  cents  ten  years  ago.  He 
said  Billy  Sunday  told  him  he  could  not  be  a  thief  and  a 
Christian  at  the  same  time,  and  after  praying  and 
crying  the  whole  night  through  he  had  come  to  make 
good. 

"  Another  instance  is  that  of  a  man  consulting  a  lawyer, 
stating  that  he  expected  to  be  sued  for  a  bill,  and  to  the 
lawyer's  mind  made  a  pretty  good  defense,  but  as  suit 
had  not  been  entered,  and  no  papers  served,  the  lawyer 
told  him  to  wait  until  such  service  was  made,  and  then 
come  to  him  and  he  would  prepare  the  case.  About  a 
week  later  the  man  appeared,  and  when  the  lawyer  asked 
him  to  restate  his  defense  the  man  simply  said : 

"  *  There  is  no  defense ;  the  debt  is  an  honest  one  and 
should  be  paid.' 

"  The  lawyer  reminded  him  of  the  defense  he  seemed 
to  have  made  a  week  earlier,  when  he  was  informed  by 
the  man  that  he  '  had  hit  the  trail '  and  was  going  to  pay 
the  debt. 

"  Enough   concrete   examples   of   changed   lives  and 


RESULTS  IN  VARIOUS  PLACES         199 

habits  can  be  found  in  this  community  to  fill  a  large 
volume,  and  would  make  most  interesting  reading. 

"  One  line  of  business  adversely  affected  is  the  liquor 
business.  Reliable  people  have  told  me  that  the  business 
of  the  saloon-keepers  has  fallen  off  from  thirty  to  seventy- 
five  per  cent. 

"  Cab-drivers  say  that  the  gambling  and  red-light  dis- 
trict has  had  much  less  patronage.  Two  gambling  dens 
and  four  houses  have  closed,  and  some  of  the  '  popula- 
tion '  have  left  town. 

"  The  religious  and  moral  atmosphere  of  the  com- 
munity is  greatly  improved  and  intensified.  People  mar- 
vel at  the  wonderful  changes  that  have  taken  place,  and 
are  still  occurring. 

^'  Another  result  of  the  campaign  is  the  more  friendly 
feeling  which  now  exists  among  the  various  religious 
denominations,  a  willingness  to  meet  on  common  ground 
for  a  common  cause." 


XVIII 

SUNDAY'S  ORDINATION  AND  VARIOUS 
OTHER  MATTERS 

IN  1905  Mr.  Sunday  was  ordained  a  minister  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  by  the  Chicago  Presbytery, 
the  ordination  taking  place  at  the  Jefferson  Park 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  had  for  several  years 
been  an  elder.  His  old  friend  and  associate  in  evangel- 
istic work.  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  preached  the  sermon, 
and  Dr.  Alexander  Patterson  gave  the  charge. 

In  his  examination  before  the  Presbytery,  the  former 
ball  player  was  plied  with  questions  for  an  hour  or  more 
by  the  professors  of  theology  and  the  learned  members 
of  the  body.  He  answered  their  questions  to  their  entire 
satisfaction,  and  his  orthodoxy  was  pronounced  sound  in 
every  particular. 

Occasionally  some  erudite  professor  would  ask  him  a 
question  that  was  a  poser,  to  which  he  would  immediately 
reply :  "  That's  too  deep  for  me,"  or  "  I  will  have  to  pass 
that  up." 

He  created  an  excellent  impression  by  his  frank,  honest 
manner,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he  gave  his  answers. 

On  June  13,  1912,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
was  conferred  upon  Mr.  Sunday  by  Westminster  College, 
at  New  Wilmington,  Pa.  In  regard  to  this.  Dr.  R.  M. 
Russell,  the  President  of  Westminster,  has  well  said: 

"  We  count  it  to  the  honor  of  Westminster  that  she 
did  this  thing.     Mr.  Sunday  knows  his  Bible,  which  is 

200 


SUNDAY'S  ORDINATION  201 

the  true  body  of  Divinity  in  theological  lore.  He  has 
devoted  his  life  to  the  supreme  task  of  world  evangeliza- 
tion, for  which  the  Bible  is  the  great  charter.  He  is, 
therefore,  both  in  scholarship  and  practical  effort,  entitled 
to  the  degree. 

**  Just  as  a  doctor  of  medicine  is  supposed  to  know 
the  science  of  medicine,  and  practice  the  art  of  healing, 
so  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  who  knows  the  truth  about  God, 
and  practices  the  art  of  saving,  is  entitled  to  the  degree. 
In  many  institutions  it  is  customary  to  bestow  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  upon  those  who  are 
men  more  noted  for  their  knowledge  of  '  the  traditions 
of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees '  than  for  their  knowledge 
and  practical  use  of  the  Bible  itself." 

After  being  twenty- four  years  in  the  cornerstone  of  the 
old  Central  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  a 
copper  box  containing  interesting  enclosures  was  recently 
removed.  Among  the  contents  of  the  box  was  a  copy 
of  "  Cleveland's  Young  Men,"  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  publication 
printed  in  1889,  which  contained  an  account  of  the  preach- 
ing, in  the  Star  Theater,  of  "  a  deserving  young  ball 
player  named  William  A.  Sunday."  How  little  the  writer 
of  those  long-buried  lines  dreamed  that  the  "  deserving 
young  ball  player  "  would  one  day  have  the  whole  country 
at  his  feet. 

In  Sunday's  meeting  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  some  time 
ago,  a  former  saloon-keeper  arose  and  gave  this  remark- 
able testimony: 

*'  It  would  take  a  lifetime  for  me  to  tell  of  the  goodness 
of  God,  and  the  benefit  Billy  Sunday  did  me.  I  kept 
a  saloon  two  miles  away  from  the  tabernacle  in  Colum- 
bus, but  read  the  papers,  and  through  them  I  was  con- 
verted." 

When  this  man  sat  down  another  arose  and  said: 


202  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

"  I  didn't  own  a  saloon,  but  was  trying  to  buy  them 
all — drinking,  gambling  and  carousing  around.  Sunday 
brought  me  the  message  that  brought  me  to  Christ." 

A  little  later  on  Dr.  Day,  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  Columbus,  and  President  of  the  Ohio 
State  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  said: 

*'  I  don't  believe  there  was  a  man  more  hated  in 
Columbus  on  the  27th  day  of  last  December  than  Billy 
Sunday,  and  a  few  weeks  later  when  he  left,  I  don't 
think  there  was  a  person  more  generally  beloved,  hon- 
ored and  respected  than  this  man  of  God.  I  staked  one 
of  the  men  who  gave  testimony  here  this  evening  to 
two  hundred  dollars  to  start  a  restaurant.  He  has  paid 
me  back  that  money  a  long  time  ago,  and  has  an  account 
in  the  bank  besides.  It  would  take  me  a  long  time  to 
tell  you  of  the  good  that  has  been  done.  On  the  last 
day  of  the  meeting  in  Columbus  two  thousand  confessed 
their  faith  in  Christ,  and  there  were  scarcely  any  children 
among  them.  If  there  has  ever  been  anything  like  that 
since  Pentecost  it  has  not  been  recorded.  Nine  thousand 
united  with  churches  within  two  weeks  after  the  close 
of  Sunday's  meeting,  and  from  the  close  until  June  I 
the  accessions  to  our  churches  totaled  twelve  thousand.'* 

Walter  HoUiday,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  is  an  agent  for 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  in  China.  While  the  Sunday 
meetings  were  in  progress  in  his  home  city,  the  papers 
containing  accounts  of  them  and  reports  of  the  sermons, 
were  sent  to  him  by  his  sister,  and  these  led  to  his  awak- 
ening and  conversion,  thirteen  thousand  miles  away  from 
the  tabernacle.  He  wrote  at  once  to  the  pastor  of  his 
sister's  church,  asking  to  be  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the 
same.  Here  is  something  for  the  people  who  do  not 
think  that  God  is  using  Billy  Sunday  to  think  about. 

While  Sunday  was  holding  a  meeting  at  Erie,  Pa., 


SUNDAY'S  ORDINATION  SOS 

eighteen  hundred  dollars  were  given  in  the  basket  collec- 
tions in  a  single  day.  If  this  has  ever  been  equaled  in 
any  religious  meeting,  history  has  failed  to  mention  it. 

On  the  third  Sunday  of  the  Steubenville,  Ohio,  cam- 
paign, the  basket  collections  for  the  day  were  $1,548.90. 

The  first  convert  in  the  meeting  at  Pontiac,  111.,  was 
a  young  woman,  who  inaugurated  a  movement  that  re- 
sulted in  the  building  of  a  fine  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building. 

At  the  Men's  Meeting  on  the  last  day  of  the  Columbus 
campaign,  six  hundred  and  nine  men  "  hit  the  trail  "  and 
broke  the  record  which  had  been  held  by  McKeesport, 
and  which  was  later  outdone  by  Wilkes-Barre,  on  the  last 
day  in  the  great  campaign  in  that  city,  when  six  hundred 
and  eleven  men  were  enrolled  at  the  afternoon  meeting 
for  men.  It  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the  immensity 
or  intensity  of  these  great  men's  meetings,  in  which  hun- 
dreds of  men  are  won  for  Christ  in  a  single  meeting,  and 
many  of  them  influential  men  in  the  city  and  state.  It 
is  marvelous. 

When  the  invitation  was  given  one  night  in  the  Steuben- 
ville meeting,  the  mayor  of  the  city  was  the  first  to  go 
forward. 

Sunday  has  a  golden  text  that  has  become  a  great  tower 
and  bulwark  in  his  daily  life  and  work,  and  it  is  this : 


"  &tubp  to  £!f)otD  tiji'sEelf  approbeb  unto  #ob, 
a  tDorfeman  tijat  neebetf)  not  to  be  agl^amcb,  rigfjtlp 
bifaibing  ttje  teorb  of  trutfj."— 2  tE^im.  2:15. 


It  is  doubtful  if  there  are  many  hours  in  the  day 
when  this  great  text  does  not  come  into  his  mind.  It 
has  become  almost  a  part  of  his  signature,  for  seldom 


204>  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

or  never  does  he  sign  a  check  without  following  his 
name  with  the  reference,  as  below : 


^(2^^.>:/^ 


Those  who  are  closely  associated  with  him  and  know 
him  well,  are  confident  that  he  earnestly  strives  to  fashion 
his  life  and  his  preaching  according  to  the  manner  in- 
dicated by  his  golden  text.  It  is  this  that  makes  him 
so  utterly  fearless  in  the  pulpit.  It  is  this  that  makes 
him  dare  to  preach  in  his  own  way,  no  matter  who  may 
criticise.  It  is  this  that  makes  him  as  conscientious  in 
what  he  preaches  and  how  he  preaches  as  he  is  in  paying 
his  debts. 

Sunday  has  no  fear  of  man,  because  whenever  he 
preaches  he  believes  that  he  is  standing  in  the  one  spot 
in  all  the  universe  where  the  Lord  of  hosts  wants  him 
to  be  at  that  very  moment.  What  matter,  then,  who 
may  howl  and  growl  and  throw  mud  at  him  ?  And  he  is 
just  as  confident  that  the  sermon  he  is  about  to  preach 
will  be  a  message  direct  from  the  Almighty,  and  he  has 
no  more  fear  of  its  falling  dead  like  a  flash  in  the  pan, 
than  he  has  of  missing  his  dinner.  He  goes  to  the  pulpit 
^'  studying  to  show  himself  approved  unto  God  (in  the 
work  he  will  do  there),  as  a  workman  that  needeth  not 
to  be  ashamed,"  and  he  intends  to  rightly  divide  the  word 
of  truth,  according  to  the  light  that  has  been  given  him, 
no  matter  who  may  be  wounded,  healed  or  oflfended  by  it. 

It  may  be  that  one  reason  why  the  ministry  of  some 
preachers  appears  to  be  as  fruitless  as  the  barren  fig  tree, 
is  that  they  never  expect  the  Lord  to  be  within  ten  miles 


SUNDAY'S  ORDINATION  205 

of  the  pulpit  in  which  they  do  their  preaching,  but  noth- 
ing like  that  is  ever  true  of  Sunday.  He  always  counts 
upon  the  Lord  being  in  the  meeting,  no  matter  who  else 
may  stay  away.  He  believes  the  Lord  will  stand  by  him, 
no  matter  what  the  conditions  or  the  weather  may  be. 
If  he  didn't  feel  absolutely  sure  of  this  he  would  never 
hold  another  meeting. 

When  he  undertakes  a  new  meeting  there  is  no  un- 
certainty in  his  mind  about  what  the  result  will  be.  He 
is  as  sure  that  thousands  will  be  converted  as  he  is  that 
the  sun  will  shine  to-morrow.  Failure  is  never  even 
taken  into  consideration.  In  Sunday's  dictionary  there  is 
no  such  word  as  fail.  He  pulled  that  word  out  by  the 
roots  long  ago,  and  has  grown  a  faith  that  keeps  it  out. 
His  preaching  has  been  criticised  with  more  venom  than 
that  of  any  other  preacher  of  the  present  day,  but  not 
a  whisper  of  insinuation  has  ever  been  turned  against  his 
faith.  He  has  a  faith  that  gives  more  than  one  big 
mountain  marching  orders  wherever  he  goes,  and  no  one 
knows  it  better  than  the  man  who  has  never  been  able 
to  speak  to  a  molehill  in  a  way  to  even  shake  it. 

Sunday  is  the  man  he  is  to-day,  and  preaches  as  he 
does,  and  preaches  what  he  does,  mainly  because  he  be- 
lieves the  Bible  from  cover  to  cover.  It  is  doubtful  if 
such  a  thing  as  a  doubt  ever  troubles  him,  for  he  seems 
to  have  utterly  destroyed  Amalek,  root  and  branch.  He 
has  no  more  doubt  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God, 
than  he  doubts  that  the  letters  he  receives  from  his  wife 
have  been  written  by  her  hand.  When  he  reads  the  Bible 
— and  he  spends  much  time  over  its  golden  pages — it  is 
that  he  may  learn  the  will  of  "  Him  whom  having  not 
seen  "  he  loves,  and  when  he  learns  what  that  will  is,  it 
becomes  his  prayer  that  it  may  be  done  in,  by  and  through 
him.    To  make  his  preaching  as  effective  as  it  should  be, 


206 


THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 


he  knows  that  he  must  live  just  as  high  as  he  preaches, 
and  every  sermon  he  preaches  to  the  mukitudes  that 
flock  to  hear  him,  he  first  preaches  just  as  prayerfully 
to  himself. 

Could  Sunday  once  be  robbed  of  the  comfort,  peace 
and  rest  he  derives  from  his  golden  text,  and  the  almost 
hourly  consolation  and  inspiration  he  finds  flowing  out 
of  it,  like  water  from  the  smitten  rock,  he  would  no 
doubt  soon  be  shorn  of  his  strength.  In  his  constant 
use  of  his  golden  text  there  seems  to  be  repeated  in  him 
the  experience  of  the  wrestler  in  the  fable,  who  was  at 
once  made  fresh  and  strong  again  every  time  he  touched 
the  earth. 

Here  is  a  list  of  the  many  towns  and  cities  in  which 
Sunday  has  held  meetings: 


Iowa 

Audubon 

Afton 

Atlantic 

Alta 

Avoca 

Boone 

Bedford 

Burlington 

Corydon 

Centerville 

Cumberland 

Colesburg 

Cedar  Rapids 

Clarksville 

Dubuque 

Dtinlap 

Emerson 

Exira 

Eddyville 

Elliott 

Fairfield 

Fonda 

Fredericksburg 

Garner 

Grundy  Center 

Glenwood 


Glidden 

Gravity 

Harlan 

Hawkeye 

Iowa  Falls 

Jefferson 

Keokuk 

Knoxville 

Leon 

Malvern 

Muscatine 

Mason  City 

Marsh  alltown 

Nev/  Sharon 

Nevada 

New  Hampton 

Osceola 

Ottumwa 

Oelwein 

Oakville 

Olin 

Perry 

Panora 

Strawberry   Point 

Sigourney 

Silver  City 

Seymour 

Sibley 


Stuart 

Tabor 

Villisca 

Williamsburg 

Waterloo 

Wapella 

Illinois 

Aledo 

Belvidere 

Bloomington 

Canton 

Charleston 

Carthage 

Decatur 

Danville 

Dixon 

Dundee 

Elgin 

Farmington 

Freeport 

Galva 

Galesburg 

Genoa 

Harvard 

Jacksonville 

Kankakee 


SUNDAY'S  ORDINATION 


20T 


Kewanee 

Nebraska 

Macomb 

Beatrice 

Marengo 

Humboldt 

MurphysborO' 

Lincoln 

Oneida 

Oxford 

Prophetstown 

Pawnee 

Princeton 

Tecumseh 

Pontiac 

Rantoul 

Pennsylvania 

Richmond 

Beaver  Falls 

Rockford 

Erie 

Sterling 

Johnstown 

Savanna 

McKeesport 

Springfield 

Newcastle 

Woodstock 

Pittsburg 

Wheaton 

Scranton 

Sharon 

Ohio 

Wilkes-Barre 

Columbus 
Canton 

Missouri 

East  Liverpool 

Joplin 

Lima 

Marysville 

Portsmouth 

Springfield 

Indiana 

Steubenville 

Fairmount 

Toledo 

Salem 

Youngstown 

South  Bend 

Minnesota 

Austin 

Ely 

Marshall 

Moorehead 

Redwood 

Rochester 

Tower 

Worthington 

Colorado 

Boulder 
Caiion  City 
Salida 


Washington 

Bellingham 

Everett 

Spokane 

Belleville,  Wis. 
Fargo,  N.  D. 
Wichita,  Kan. 
Wheeling,  W.  Va. 


There  are  one  hundred  and  forty-two  names  in  the 
list  given  above.  To  say  that  Sunday  has  spoken  to  an 
average  of  fifteen  thousand  different  persons  for  each 
meeting,  would  be  a  very  low  estimate,  and  yet  it  would 
make  the  total  number  to  which  he  has  preached,  two 
million  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand,  and  prob- 
ably half  as  many  more  have  read  printed  reports  of  his 
sermons.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  other  man  ever 
preached  to  so  many  people. 

To  say  that  there  have  been  an  average  of  four  thou- 
sand converts  enrolled  for  each  meeting  held,  would  also 
be  putting  it  low,  but  at  that  figure  the  grand  total  would 
be  five  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand!  And  yet 
there  are  people — and  some  of  them  are  preachers — who 
do  not  believe  that  God  is  using  Billy  Sunday. 


XIX 
A  HARD  HITTER  OF  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 

IT  is  doubtful  if  any  man  in  modern  times  has  done 
more  than  Billy  Sunday  to  help  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance. At  all  events,  this  is  the  inference  from 
the  vigorous  way  in  which  the  whisky  interests  oppose 
him.  The  liquor  men  seem  to  know  his  engagements 
almost  as  soon  as  he  makes  them,  and  weeks  ahead  of 
his  meetings  they  begin  to  circulate  all  manner  of  lying 
slanders  against  him.  It  is  well  authenticated  that 
they  spend  thousands  of  dollars  every  year  in  doing 
this. 

His  great  "  booze  sermon  "  is  one  of  the  most  effective 
and  hard-hitting  specimens  of  eloquence  against  the 
saloon  that  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  m^an.  If  every  man 
in  the  country  could  hear  him  hurl  it  forth,  as  Jove 
hurled  thunderbolts,  it  would  hasten  the  coming  of  the 
glad  day  when  the  whisky  dragon  shall  be  forever  de- 
stroyed. 

Sunday  has  done  effective  work  for  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance, not  only  in  his  own  revival  campaigns,  but  on 
special  occasions  between  meetings.  In  his  campaigns 
he  always  observes  Monday  as  a  rest  day,  but  it  is 
seldom  a  day  of  rest  for  him.  He  is  so  besieged  with 
calls  from  other  towns  and  cities  to  pay  them  a  visit  that 
almost  every  Monday  he  is  speaking  at  some  other  point, 
fifty  or  a  hundred,  or  even  two  hundred  miles  away  from 
the  place  of  his  own  meeting,  and  in  such  addresses  he 

208 


A  SWORN  FOE  TO  SALOON  209 

generally  gives  the  whisky  business  some  telling  sledge- 
hammer blows. 

Many  times  temperance  interests  have  chartered  a 
special  Pullman  car,  into  which  they  have  loaded  Sunday 
and  several  of  his  party,  and  sent  them  out  to  cover  as 
much  territory  as  could  be  reached  in  this  way  in  the 
few  days  intervening  between  meetings.  This  was  done 
in  the  state  of  Illinois  with  such  success  that  hun- 
dreds of  saloons  were  closed,  and  many  counties  went 
dry. 

.Beginning  with   the   first  of  January,    1908,   Sunday  \ 
conducted  a  five  weeks*  campaign  in  Bloomington,  111., 
a  city  of  twenty-seven  thousand  in  the  central  part  of 
the  state.    This  meeting  resulted  in  forty-seven  hundred 
people   taking  their  stand   for  God  and   righteousness.  J 
After  a  few  days'  intermission  he  entered  upon  another  ^ 
campaign   at  Decatur,   a   city   of  thirty-four   thousand, 
forty  miles  south  of  Bloomington,  and  this  meeting  re- 
sulted in  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine  conver:i.J 
sions.     The  next  meeting  was  at  Charleston,  about  sev- 
enty-five miles  southeast  of  Decatur. 

The  Illinois  spring  election  came  on  a  Tuesday  in  the] 
midst  of  this  last  campaign.     For  many  days  previous 
Sunday  had  been  going  out  to  different  towns  and  cities 
over   the  state,   giving  his   ''  booze  sermon "  and  then  J 
rushing  back  to  Charleston  for  the  evening  meeting. 

When  the  spring  elections  were  over  it  was  found  thaT/ 
fifteen  hundred  saloons  had  been  knocked  out  in  one 
day,  and  much  of  this  was  directly  the  result  of  Sunday's 
efforts.    In  Decatur  sixty-three  saloons  were  closed,  and 
in  Charleston  twenty-one  were  put  out  of  business. j 

A  goodly  number  of  other  towns  and  cities  that  had 
been  considered  hopelessly  wet,  were  listed  in  the  dry 
column.    And  so  it  is  safe  to  say  that  many  of  the  hard- 


210  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

est  blows  the  saloon  giant  has  ever  received  have  been 
dealt  it  by  Billy  Sunday. 

On  the  eve  of  the  great  campaign  for  state  wide  pro- 
hibition in  West  Virginia,  Sunday  covered  the  state  in 
a  special  train,  speaking  at  several  places  every  day,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever  but  that  his  strenuous  labors 
in  that  campaign  turned  the  tide  that  brought  in  the 
great  wave  of  an  overwhelming  majority  for  the  cause 
of  God  and  public  decency. 

It  is  quite  fitting,  in  this  connection,  to  quote  a  few 
statements  from  the  ''  booze  sermon,"  to  show  how  un- 
flinchingly and  courageously  Sunday  deals  sledge- 
hammer blows  full  in  the  face  of  the  liquor  traffic : 

"  The  saloon  is  the  sum  of  all  villainies.  It  is  worse 
than  war  or  pestilence.  It  is  the  crime  of  crimes.  It  is 
the  parent  of  crimes,  and  the  mother  of  sins.  It  is  the 
appalling  source  of  misery,  poverty  and  sorrow.  It 
causes  three-fourths  of  the  crime,  and  of  course  is  the 
source  of  three-fourths  of  the  taxes  to  support  that  crime. 
And  to  license  such  an  incarnate  fiend  of  hell  is  the 
dirtiest,  most  low  down,  damnable  business  on  top  of 
this  old  earth. 
I  "  The  saloons  fill  the  jails  and  the  penitentiaries,  the 
poorhouses  and  insane  asylums.  Who  has  to  pay  the 
bills?  The  landlord  who  doesn't  get  the  rent,  because 
the  money  goes  for  whisky,  the  butcher  and  the  grocer 
and  the  charitable  person  who  takes  pity  on  the  children 
of  drunkards,  and  the  taxpayer  who  supports  the  insane 
asylums  and  other  institutions,  that  the  whisky  business 
fills  with  human  wrecks. 

"  Do  away  with  the  accursed  business  and  you  will 
not  have  to  put  up  to  support  them.  Who  gets  the 
money?  The  saloon  keepers  and  the  brewers  and  the 
distillers,  while  the  whisky  fills  the  land  with  misery, 


A  SWORN  FOE  TO  SALOON  Sll 

poverty,  wretchedness,  disease,  death  and  damnation, 
and  it  is  being  authorized  by  the  will  of  the  sovereign 
people. 

"  You  say,  '  People  will  drink  it  anyway/  Not  by 
my  vote.  You  say,  '  Men  will  murder  their  wives  any- 
way." Not  by  my  vote.  *  They  will  steal  anyway.'  Not 
by  my  vote.  You  are  the  sovereign  people,  and  what 
are  yott  going  to  do  about  it?  . 

"  Let  me  assemble  before  your  minds  the  bodies  of 
the  drunken  dead,  who  crawl  away  *  into  the  jaws  of 
death,  into  the  mouth  of  hell,'  and  then  out  of  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  the  drink  let  me  call  the  contingent 
widowhood,  and  wifehood  and  childhood,  and  let  their 
tears  rain  down  upon  their  purple  faces !  Do  you  think 
that  would  stop  the  curse  of  the  liquor  traffic?  No! 
No! 

"  In  these  days  when  the  question  of  saloon  or  no 
saloon  is  at  the  fore  in  almost  every  community,  one 
hears  a  good  deal  about  what  is  called  '  personal  lib- 
erty.' These  are  fine  large  mouth-filling  words,  and 
they  certainly  do  sound  first-rate;  but  when  you  get 
right  down  and  analyze  them  ia  the  light  of  good  old 
horse  sense,  you  will  discover  that  in  their  application  to 
the  present  controversy  they  mean  just  about  this : 

"  Personal  liberty  is  for  the  man  who,  if  he  has  the 
inclination  and  the  price,  can  stand  up  to  a  bar  and  fill 
his  hide  so  full  of  red  liquor  that  he  is  transformed  for 
the  time  into  an  irresponsible,  dangerous,  evil-smelling 
brute.  But  personal  liberty  is  not  for  the  patient,  long- 
suffering  wife,  who  has  to  endure  with  what  fortitude 
she  may  his  blows  and  curses.  Nor  is  it  for  his  chil- 
dren, who  if  they  escape  his  insane  rage,  are  yet  robbed 
of  every  known  joy  and  privilege  of  childhood,  and  too 
often  grow  up  neglected,  uncared  for  and  vicious  as  the 


212  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDxVY 

result  of  their  surroundings  and  the  example  before 
them. 

"  *  Personal  liberty '  is  not  for  the  sober  industrious 
citizen  who,  from  the  proceeds  of  honest  toil  and  orderly- 
living,  has  to  pay,  willingly  or  not,  the  tax  bills  which 
pile  up  as  the  direct  result  of  drunkenness,  disorder  and 
poverty,  the  items  of  which  are  written  in  the  records 
of  every  police  court  and  poorhouse  in  the  land.  Nor  is 
'  personal  liberty '  for  the  good  woman  who  goes  abroad 
in  the  town  only  at  the  risk  of  being  shot  down  by  some 
drink-crazed  demon.  This  rant  about  *  personal  liberty,* 
as  an  argument,  has  no  leg  to  stand  upon. 

"  I  tell  you,  men,  the  American  home  is  the  dearest 
heritage  of  the  people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people, 
and  when  a  man  can  go  from  home  in  the  morning  with 
the  kisses  of  wife  and  children  on  his  lips,  and  come  back 
at  night  with  an  empty  dinner  bucket  to  a  happy  home, 
that  man  is  a  better  man,  whether  white  or  black. 
Whatever  takes  away  the  comforts  of  home — whatever 
degrades  the  man  or  woman — whatever  invades  the 
sanctity  of  the  home,  is  the  deadliest  foe  to  the  home, 
to  church,  to  state  and  school,  and  because  of  what  it  is 
and  does  the  saloon  is  the  deadliest  foe  to  the  home,  to 
church  and  school  and  state  on  top  of  God  Almighty's 
dirt ! 

''  And  if  all  the  combined  forces  of  hell  should  assem- 
ble in  conclave,  and  with  them  all  the  men  on  earth  that 
hate  and  despise  God,  purity  and  virtue ;  if  all  the  scum 
of  the  earth  could  mingle  with  the  denizens  of  hell  to 
try  to  think  of  the  deadliest  institution  to  home,  church 
and  state,  I  tell  you,  sir,  the  combined  hellish  intelligence 
could  not  conceive  of  or  bring  forth  an  institution  that 
could  touch  the  hem  of  the  garment  of  the  open  licensed 
saloon  to  damn  the  home  and  manhood  and  womanhood 


A  SWORN  FOE  TO  SALOON  213 

and  business,  and  every  other  good  thing  on  God's  earth. 

"  In  the  island  of  Jamaica  the  rats  increased  so  they 
destroyed  the  crops,  and  they  introduced  the  mongoose, 
which  is  a  species  of  the  coon.  They  have  three  breed- 
ing seasons  a  year,  and  there  are  twelve  to  fifteen  in  each 
brood,  and  they  are  deadly  enemies  of  the  rats.  The 
result  was  that  the  rats  disappeared,  and  there  was 
nothing  more  for  the  mongoose  to  feed  upon,  so  it  at- 
tacked the  snakes  and  the  frogs  and  the  lizards  that  fed 
upon  the  insects,  with  the  result  that  the  insects  in- 
creased, and  they  stripped  the  gardens,  eating  up  the 
onions  and  the  lettuce  and  everything  that  grew  in  them. 
And  then  the  mongoose  attacked  the  sheep  and  the  cats 
and  the  puppies  and  the  calves  and  the  geese.  Now 
Jamaica  is  spending  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars, 
trying  to  get  rid  of  the  mongoose. 

"  The  American  mongoose  is  the  open  licensed  saloon. 
It  eats  the  carpet  off  the  floor,  and  the  clothes  from  off 
your  back;  your  money  out  of  the  bank,  and  it  eats  up 
character.  And  it  goes  on  until  it  leaves  a  stranded 
wreck  in  the  home,  a  skeleton  of  what  was  once  bright- 
ness and  happiness,  and  yet  some  of  you  keep  right  on 
voting,  year  after  year,  for  the  devilish  thing  to  stay 
and  go  on  with  its  deadly  work  of  havoc  and  ruin. 

"  It  is  the  saloon  that  cocks  the  highwayman's  pistol. 
The  saloon  that  puts  the  rope  in  the  hands  of  the  mob. 
It  is  the  anarchist  of  the  world,  and  its  dirty  red  flag 
is  dyed  with  the  blood  of  women  and  children.  It  sent 
the  bullet  through  the  body  of  Lincoln.  It  nerved  the 
arm  of  the  assassins  who  struck  down  Garfield  and 
McKinley. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  murderer.  Every  plot  that  was  ever 
hatched  against  our  flag,  and  every  anarchist  plot  against 
the  government  and  law,  was  born  and  bred,  and  crawled 


214  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

out  of  the  grogshop  to  damn  this  country.  The  curse 
of  God  Almighty  is  on  the  saloon.  Legislatures  are  legis- 
lating against  it.  Decent  society  is  barring  it  out.  The 
fraternal  brotherhoods  are  knocking  it  out.  The  secret 
societies  are  closing  their  doors  against  the  whisky  seller. 
They  don't  want  him  wriggling  his  carcass  in  their 
lodges.  Yes,  sir!  I  tell  you  the  curse  of  God  is  on  it. 
It  is  on  the  down  grade.  It  is  headed  for  hell,  and  by 
the  grace  of  God  I  am  going  to  give  it  a  push,  with  a 
whoop,  for  all  I  know  how.  How  many  of  you  will 
help  me? 

"  You  men  now  have  a  chance  to  show  your  man- 
hood. Then  in  the  name  of  your  pure  mother,  in  the 
name  of  your  manhood,  in  the  name  of  your  wife,  and 
the  pure  innocent  children  that  climb  up  in  your  lap 
and  put  their  arms  around  your  neck,  in  the  name  of  all 
that  is  good  and  noble,  fight  the  curse.  Shall  you  men 
who  hold  in  your  hands  the  ballot,  and  in  that  ballot 
hold  the  destiny  of  womanhood  and  childhood  and  man- 
hood, shall  you,  the  sovereign  power,  refuse  to  rally  in 
the  name  of  defenseless  men  and  women  and  native  land  ? 
No!" 


XX 


SUNDAY^S  VERSATILITY— ROYAL  RECEPTION 
AT  COLUMBUS 

NO  one  who  has  heard  Sunday  through  a  meeting 
can  doubt  but  that  he  would  have  made  a  fine 
actor,  had  his  talents  been  exercised  to  their 
fullest  in  that  direction.  He  impersonates  almost  every 
character  he  introduces,  and  does  it  well.  Tom  Keene, 
the  actor,  was  his  warm  personal  friend,  and  once  urged 
him  to  become  his  "  understudy."  He  had  no  doubt, 
he  said,  that  Sunday  might  become  one  of  the  world's 
great  actors. 

William  Jennings  Bryan,  another  good  friend  of  the 
evangelist,  has  said  that  Sunday  would  make  one  of  the 
greatest  political  speakers  the  country  has  known,  were 
he  to  give  his  attention  to  politics  as  earnestly  as  he  has 
done  to  preaching.  In  one  address  he  will  astonish  and 
delight  by  his  dramatic  portrayal  and  brilliant  word 
pictures,  and  in  the  next  he  may  excel  in  humor.  No 
one  can  hear  him  for  just  a  time  or  two  and  have  any- 
thing like  a  clear  idea  of  his  remarkable  versatility. 

One  newspaper  writer  said  that  **  when  he  gave  his 
vivid  impersonation  of  the  call  of  the  Almighty  to  the 
great  Welsh  evangelist,  Evan  Roberts,  the  hearts  of 
many  stood  still,  and  they  fancied  for  a  moment  that  they 
heard  in  truth  the  call  of  God  to  the  grimy  Welsh  miner 
who  came  out  of  the  coal  mines  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  to  stir  his  native  country  with  a  power  that  had 

215 


£16  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

never  been  excelled,  even  in  that  spiritual  and  ardently 
religious  country  of  bards  and  druids." 

The  Toledo  Blade  had  this  to  say  of  Sunday  during  the 
great  meeting  he  held  in  that  city : 

**  He  is  as  dramatic  as  the  greatest  actor.  His  story 
of  the  pearl  at  the  end  of  the  evening  sermon  was  one 
of  the  most  dramatic  any  one  in  Toledo  has  ever  seen 
or  heard.  The  people  listened  to  a  very  simple  story 
with  eyes  and  mouths  agape.  A  half-drunken  and  ragged 
man  in  one  of  the  front  seats  who  had  fallen  asleep, 
suddenly  awoke  at  the  beginning  of  the  story,  and  leaned 
farther  and  farther  forward  during  the  recital,  following 
with  his  body  the  movements  of  the  body  of  the  speaker, 
until  it  seemed  at  times  that  he  would  certainly  fall  from 
his  seat.  When  the  story  ended  he  leaned  back  in  his 
seat  with  a  deep  sigh,  at  the  discomfiture  of  the  man  of 
whom  the  story  was  told. 

**  Sunday's  good  humor  was  also  infectious,  and  com- 
municated itself  to  the  audience.  Whenever  he  laughed 
the  multitude  laughed  with  him.  Every  point  he  made 
went  home,  and  even  those  he  lashed  applauded  the  wit- 
ticism with  which  it  was  clinched.  Those  who  had  come 
merely  to  have  the  opportunity  to  get  at  first  hand  some 
of  his  so-called  vulgarity  left  disappointed,  for  he  '  made 
good '  with  his  usual  language.  He  so  deftly  put  the 
lance  of  criticism  into  the  festering  spots  of  wrong 
living  that  his  words  of  ridicule  were  double-edged. 
They  carried  with  them  the  anaesthetic  of  a  spontaneous 
bubbling  humor  that  took  the  pain  from  the  wound  he 
made. 

"  His  mannerisms  are  Sundayisms.  He  is  a  master  of 
invective  and  excoriating  adjective,  and  resembles  no 
other  public  speaker  alive.  His  speech  is  as  lightning- 
like and  keen  as  are  his  movements.    He  darts  about  the 


RECEPTION  AT  COLUMBUS  217 

platform  with  the  rapidity  of  a  hawk,  and  he  bends  and 
handles  his  lithe  body  with  the  ease  that  made  him 
one  of  the  fastest  men  on  bases  when  he  played  base- 
ball. 

"  There  is  not  a  forced  or  studied  movement  about 
him.  Every  action  is  telling  in  its  force.  When  he  sits 
upon  his  chair  on  the  edge  of  the  platform,  every  ear 
is  bent  forward  a  little  closer  to  hear  the  story  that  is 
coming,  and  when  he  mounts  his  chair  to  thunder  forth 
some  defiance  of  evil,  with  his  hands  to  his  lips  in  trum- 
pet shape,  every  one  grows  tense  in  anticipation  of  the 
stirring  words  which  are  to  come.  His  climaxes  are  all 
unique  and  startling.  No  finer  denunciation  or  challenge 
was  ever  uttered  than  that  which  ended  his  morning 
sermon,  when,  mounted  upon  his  chair,  he  shrilled  out 
upon  the  clear  morning  air  the  words :  *  Come  on,  ye 
cohorts  of  the  devil,  come  on,  ye  forces  of  evil,  I  defy 
you ! ' " 

Sunday  also  has  an  imagination  which  at  times  seems 
almost  magical,  and  with  it  he  has  the  ability  to  draw 
striking  and  telling  illustrations  from  the  commonplace 
and  everyday  aftairs  of  life  that  would  make  him  a  rare 
writer  of  fiction,  had  he  only  been  trained  to  use  the  pen 
as  well  as  he  does  his  voice.  The  little  incidents  that 
he  often  tells  of  his  own  family  life  have  a  power  that 
tugs  at  the  heartstrings,  and  he  never  fails  to  draw  il- 
lustrations from  the  crowds  which  surround  him. 

New  thoughts  seem  to  fill  his  mind  every  time  he  faces 
an  audience,  and  he  utters  them  with  such  pungency 
and  apt  turn  of  expression  that  they  force  their  way  into 
the  quick  comprehension  and  recognition  of  even  the 
slowest  witted  who  hear  them.  As  he  often  says,  with 
the  taking  smile  for  which  he  is  noted  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  *'  I  like  to  put  the  cookies  on  the  lower  shelf." 


218  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

The  description  he  gives  of  his  first  sermon  is  an 
amusing  example  of  the  manner  in  which  he  draws  upon 
his  own  experience  to  interest  and  hold  attention : 

"  When  I  first  began  to  preach  I  diagnosed  the  dif- 
ficulties and  sins  of  the  people  as  existing  in  the  gray 
matter.  I  figured  that  they  were  all  from  Missouri,  and 
that  I  had  to  show  them.  You  ought  to  have  heard  the 
sermon  that  I  got  up.  My,  but  it  w^as  a  hummer!  I 
had  stacks  of  encyclopedias  scattered  around  me,  and 
all  the  reference  books  I  could  lay  my  hands  on.  There 
were  words  in  that  sermon  that  would  have  made  the 
jaws  of  a  Greek  professor  squeak  for  a  week.  When  I 
sprung  it  on  the  poor  people  it  went  off  like  a  firecracker 
that  had  busted  in  the  middle. 

"  I  figured  that  the  Lord  had  got  it  doped  out  all 
wrong,  and  that  I  was  going  to  hand  the  goods  to  the 
sinful  old  world  that  would  bring  it  right  down  on  its 
knees.  I  went  after  the  devils  of  this  thing  and  the 
devils  of  that  thing,  and  yet  nothing  happened.  Then 
I  loaded  my  old  muzzle-loading  gospel  gun  with  ipecac, 
buttermilk,  rough  on  rats,  rock  salt  and  whatever  else 
came  handy,  and  the  gang  has  been  ducking  and  the 
feathers  flying  ever  since.  But  I  was  wrong;  it  was 
the  heart,  and  not  the  gray  matter  that  was  wrong.  I 
didn't  hit  the  ball  at  all  until  I  found  that  out. 

''  I've  been  a  preacher  a  good  many  years  now,  and 
I  like  it.  I  love  it  as  I  love  nothing  else.  I  wouldn't 
leave  it  for  any  money,  and  while  I  am  about  it,  I  believe 
in  preaching  so  that  people  can  understand  me,  Paul 
said  he  would  rather  speak  five  words  that  were  under- 
stood than  ten  thousand  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  that 
hits  me.  I  want  people  to  know  what  I  mean,  and  that 
is  why  I  try  to  get  down  to  where  they  live.  What  do 
I  care  if  some  juff-eyed  dainty  little  dibbly-dibbly  goes 


RECEPTION  AT  COLUMBUS  219 

tibbly-tibbly  around  because  I  use  plain  Anglo-Saxon 
words? 

'*  And  I  believe  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God,  from 
cover  to  cover,  and  I  believe  that  the  man  who  mag- 
nifies the  word  of  God  in  his  preaching  is  a  man  that 
God  will  honor.  Why  do  such  names  stand  out  on  the 
pages  of  history  as  Wesley,  Whitefield,  Finney  and  Mar- 
tin Luther?  Because  of  their  fearless  denunciation  of 
all  sin,  and  because  they  preached  Jesus  Christ  without 
fear  or  favor. 

"  But  somebody  says  a  revival  is  abnormal.  You  lie ! 
Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  the  godless  card-playing 
conditions  of  the  church  are  normal?  I  say  they  are 
not,  but  it  is  the  abnormal  state.  It  is  the  sin-sated 
apathetic  condition  in  the  church  that  is  abnormal.  It 
is  the  Dutch  lunch  and  beer  parties,  and  the  card  par- 
ties and  the  like  that  are  abnormal.  I  say  that  they  lie 
when  they  say  that  the  revival  is  an  abnormal  condition 
in  the  church.  I  like  these  good  old  plain,  undeniable, 
unmistakable  words  like  '  lie.*  It  was  meant  for  some 
people.  It's  plain;  you  catch  the  meaning  when  it  is 
thrown  out  at  some  person  or  class  of  persons. 

"  Somebody  else  says,  '  A  revival  is  followed  by  a 
reaction.'  I  say  it  isn't  true,  but  even  if  it  were,  it  would 
be  worth  all  it  costs,  because  a  revival  brings  hundreds 
nearer  to  God  than  they've  ever  been  before.  If  your 
baby  were  sick,  and  you  called  a  physician,  and  it  grew 
convalescent,  and  you  were  able  to  keep  it  near  you  for 
six  months  more,  wouldn't  you  think  it  worth  while? 
If  I  can  get  a  poor  miserable  sinner  to  turn  to  the  Lord 
for  six  months;  if  I  can  get  some  maudering  drunkard 
to  go  home  and  stop  being  untrue  to  his  wife,  and  stop 
her  tears  for  six  months,  by  the  Eternal  God  I'll  do  it 
every  time. 


220  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

*•'  But  you  say,  '  A  revival  creates  undue  excitement ! ' 
I  take  issue  with  you  right  there.  It  rains.  The  rain 
does  the  ground  good.  For  that  reason,  do  you  want 
it  to  rain  all  the  time  ?  In  business,  is  a  revival  unwise  ? 
You  have  commercial  and  booster  clubs.  Somebody  says 
it  brings  disrespect  upon  the  cause  of  Christianity  to 
have  a  revival,  because  it  confesses  that  we  have  back- 
sliders. Well,  you  haven't  given  the  world  any  informa- 
tion that  I  don't  possess,  when  you've  said  it. 

**  *  But  a  revival  is  temporary,'  some  one  shouts.  So 
is  a  rain  storm;  so  was  Pentecost,  but  we  are  feeling  the 
effects  of  it  yet.  We  want  men  full  of  good  red  blood, 
instead  of  pink  tea  and  ice  water. 

"  You  say,  '  It  exalts  the  evangelist.'  Nothing  of  the 
kind.  Some  of  you,  just  to  find  fault,  say  that  a  revival 
and  a  visiting  evangelist  make  a  bellboy  of  the  local 
preacher.  Well,  it  does  not.  This  is  not  your  pastor's 
work.  He  still  does  his.  He  has  more  opportunities 
under  these  conditions  to  do  good.  If  I  do  not  make 
you  think  more  of  your  pastor  and  of  his  efforts,  and 
if  I  don't  cause  you  to  take  more  interest  in  his  eft'orts, 
I  will  have  failed  in  my  purpose. 

''  This  is  a  day  of  specialists.  It  is  a  rare  thing  now- 
adays to  find  a  general  medical  practitioner  outside  of 
the  smaller  communities.  There  are  eye  specialists,  ear 
specialists,  nose  specialists  and  throat  specialists.  Some 
men  are  successes  as  preachers,  others  as  pastors,  and 
others  as  evangelists.  I  couldn't  be  a  pastor,  and  many 
a  pastor  cannot  be  an  evangelist. 

"  What  we  need  is  the  good  old-time  kind  of  revival 
that  will  cause  you  to  love  your  neighbors,  and  quit 
talking  about  them.  A  revival  that  will  make  you  pay 
your  debts  and  have  family  prayers.  Get  that  kind, 
and  then  you  will  see  that  a  revival  means  a  very  dif- 


RECEPTION  AT  COLUMBUS  221 

ferent  condition  from  what  yoit  have  imagined.  Chris- 
tianity means  a  lot  more  than  church  membership. 
Many  an  old  skinflint  is  not  fit  for  the  balm  of  Gilead 
until  you  give  him  a  fly  blister  and  get  after  him  v^^ith 
a  currycomb.  There  are  too  many  Sunday  school 
teachers  w^ho  are  godless,  card-playing,  beer,  v^^ine  and 
champagne  drinkers.  No  wonder  the  kids  are  going  to 
the  devil.  No  wonder  your  children  grow  up  like  cattle, 
when  you  have  no  form  of  prayer  in  your  home. 

*'  If  I  knew  that  the  chief  of  devils  sat  out  there  on 
one  of  those  benches,  and  that  all  the  cohorts  of  hell 
were  in  front  of  me,  sneering  and  leering,  I  would 
preach  anyway,  and  I  would  preach  the  truth  as  God  has 
given  it  to  me.  It  was  said  that  when  men  left  a  meet- 
ing led  by  Phillips  Brooks,  they  were  filled  with  a  desire 
to  be  preachers.  I  do  hope  that  some  preachers  and 
workers  for  the  Lord  will  be  the  fruit  of  these  meetings." 

Some  idea  of  the  great  hold  Sunday  has  on  every  com- 
munity in  which  he  has  held  a  meeting  may  be  gained 
from  the  following  account  of  the  whole-hearted  wel- 
come they  gave  him  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  May,  191 3, 
when  he  returned  to  that  city  for  a  single  day,  to  speak 
at  the  annual  Chamber  of  Commerce  May  Day  Picnic. 
He  was  at  the  time  engaged  in  a  meeting  at  South  Bend, 
Ind.,  but  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  finally  prevailed  on 
him  for  once  to  depart  from  the  practice  he  had  main- 
tained for  seventeen  years,  of  not  leaving  his  own  meet- 
ing. In  order  to  do  this  a  special  fast  train  was  char- 
tered to  take  him  from  South  Bend  to  Columbus,  and 
return  him. 

The  Ohio  State  Journal  gave  the  following  account  of 
his  reception  and  stay  in  Columbus  : 

"  Turning  a  May  day  outing,  in  which  upward  of 
sixty-five  thousand  persons  were  interested,  into  a  tern- 


g£2  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

porary  tour  of  progress,  Rev.  Billy  Sunday  came  to 
Columbus  yesterday  with  a  triumph  that  indicated  he  was 
returning  to  his  own.  He  held  twenty-five  thousand 
persons  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand  while  he  defied  prece- 
dent and  the  physician's  orders,  and  broke  records  for 
himself  and  for  Columbus,  addressing  the  largest  single 
audience  that  ever  sat  under  the  spell  of  his  voice. 

"  Olentangy  Park  was  gay  in  its  holiday  dress.  Merry- 
go-rounds  and  brass  bands  in  the  distance  vied  unsuc- 
cessfully for  attention  while  the  evangelist  told  the  peo- 
ple assembled  what  he  thought  of  '  Butterfly  Chasers.' 

"  With  his  characteristic  vigor  he  crowded  the  day 
full  to  overflowing.  He  had  not  taken  a  seat  in  the 
waiting  auto,  while  the  reception  committee  crowded 
around,  before  he  announced  that  he  wanted  to  speak 
at  the  penitentiary  at  nine-thirty.  No  one  in  Columbus 
had  the  slightest  intimation  of  that  intention,  but  there 
was  nothing  to  do  but  to  fall  in  with  his  plans.  The 
address  at  the  prison  over,  Mr.  Sunday  and  his  party 
were  taken  to  the  Railway  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  where  a  suite 
of  rooms  had  been  reserved  for  him,  and  where  he  made 
a  pretext  of  resting  in  the  intervals  of  receiving  a  stream 
of  callers  prior  to  the  luncheon,  at  which  a  hundred  men 
from  the  city  and  various  parts  of  the  state  sat  down. 

"  In  conclusion  Mr.  Sunday  was  called  upon  for  a 
few  words,  and  in  one  of  those  rapid-fire  addresses 
which  consume  exactly  two  minutes,  by  a  stop  watch, 
and  are  the  despair  of  all  stenographers,  he  told  for  him- 
self and  his  party  how  Columbus  had  held  a  dear  and 
tender  spot  in  their  hearts ;  how  he  was  breaking  a  rule 
of  seventeen  years  to  come  here,  and  how  his  heart  had 
gone  out  to  the  city  when  he  heard  of  the  damage  done 
by  the  flood. 

"  A  few  minutes  later  he  was  being  whirled  away  to 


RECEPTION  AT  COLUMBUS  22S 

Olentangy  Park,  while  people  along  the  way  stood  and 
waved  at  him,  shouting  welcomes  and  bidding  him  God- 
speed. Everywhere  he  went  the  experience  was  the 
same. 

"  While  Mr.  Sunday  was  being  entertained  by  the 
men,  Mrs.  Sunday  was  the  guest  of  the  wives  of  the 
officers  of  the  Northside  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  a 
luncheon  in  the  Chittenden  Hotel. 

"  The  program  of  speeches  at  the  park  was  turned 
topsy-tur\y  at  the  last  minute.  Governor  Cox  and  At- 
torney-General Hogan  were  called  out  of  the  city,  and 
Senator  W.  A.  Greenlund,  one  of  the  speakers,  had  to 
leave  the  ground  before  Mr.  Sunday  concluded  his 
address. 

"  About  sixty  thousand  people  crowded  into  the  park. 
It  was  the  largest  gathering  of  this  kind  ever  held  in 
Columbus.  Mr.  Sunday's  address  was  peculiarly  replete 
with  incident,  epigram  and  anecdote,  held  together  by 
a  serious  thread  of  thought,  which  first  pointed  and  then 
shot  home  the  truth  that  life  is  worth  living  if  it  is 
worthily  lived,  and  that  what  people  get  and  see  depends 
largely  upon  their  viewpoint  and  their  contribution  to 
life.  During  all  of  his  campaign  here  the  evangelist 
never  appeared  to  better  advantage  than  yesterday.  As 
far  as  the  uttermost  vibration  of  his  voice  would  reach 
people  stood  and  listened,  frequently  laughing  and  ap- 
plauding. 

"  It  was  Billy  Sunday  day.  Try  as  they  would  to  keep 
the  May  day  outing  to  the  fore,  it  was  Billy  Sunday 
that  made  the  outing,  and  not  the  outing  that  got  a 
hearing  for  Billy  Sunday. 

*'  The  great  meeting  was  brought  to  a  close  by  a 
characteristic  prayer  on  the  part  of  the  evangelist,  who 
prayed  for  blessing  on  all  present.     On  the  city,  state 


224  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

and  county  officials,  and  referring  to  the  local  campaign 
as  probably  the  greatest  awakening  since  the  days  of 
Pentecost. 

"  Mrs.  Sunday  also  was  lifted  to  the  table,  and  said 
that  she  realized  that  her  great  mission  in  life  was  to 
take  care  of  her  husband,  and  that  she  was  trying  to  do 
that  to  the  best  of  her  ability.  She  said  she  never  would 
be  able  to  express  the  sense  of  appreciation  she  had  of 
the  reception  tendered  her  and  her  husband  in  Columbus. 

"  The  extreme  democracy  of  Sunday  was  shown  upon 
his  arrival,  when  he  shook  hands  with  all  the  men  about 
the  station  and  the  Railway  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  where  he  went 
back  into  the  kitchen  and  greeted  the  cook  and  all  the 
waiters.  Many  sought  to  save  the  evangelist  an  imag- 
ined embarrassment  by  introducing  people  who  had  met 
him  during  the  campaign,  but  in  almost  every  instance 
this  was  a  wasted  effort,  as  he  recalled  practically  every 
man  and  face  without  seeming  effort." 

It  will  also  be  quite  proper  to  refer  in  this  chapter  to 
a  notable  demonstration  that  resulted  from  the  great 
meeting  held  at  Wilkes-Barre.  As  a  result  of  awakened 
conscience  following  the  campaign  in  that  city,  a  public 
demonstration  in  the  form  of  a  law-and-order  parade  was 
held  in  Wilkes-Barre  on  Monday  night,  June  2,  1913,  in 
which  more  than  ten  thousand  people  marched.  Prac- 
tically all  these  were  men,  with  a  small  percentage  of 
boys.  There  could  be  no  doubt  that  this  body  of  men 
was  strictly  in  favor  of  enforcement  of  the  Sunday 
closing  law,  etc. 

The  demonstration  was  out  of  the  ordinary  in  many 
ways.  There  have  seldom  been  as  many  men  gathered  in 
any  city  for  such  a  purpose.  Again,  these  were  all  men 
from  the  one  county.  The  parade  was  also  held  at  the 
close  of  a  very  busy  day,  when  many  men  who  would 


RECEPTION  AT  COLUMBUS  225 

have  taken  part  if  possible  were  unable  to  get  around 
from  their  evening  meal. 

There  were  thousands  upon  thousands  of  sympathetic 
people  lining  the  streets  for  two  miles  of  the  line  of 
march.  The  banners  and  songs  prepared  for  the  occasion 
left  not  the  least  doubt  as  to  the  sentiment  of  every  one 
who  participated  in  this  great  parade  for  decency  and 
the  honesty  of  public  officials. 


XXI 

SOME  PERSONAL  MATTERS 

IT  may  surprise  many  to  learn  that  in  private  life 
Sunday  is  a  very  quiet  man.  He  is  so  intensely 
active  in  his  preaching,  and  so  full  of  fire  when 
holding  a  meeting,  that  many  think  he  must  be  noisy 
at  all  times,  but  nothing  could  be  more  wide  of  the  mark. 
With  his  great  store  of  general  information,  his  matured 
opinions  upon  nearly  all  subjects,  and  his  ability  to  give 
clear  expression  to  what  he  thinks,  he  could  easily  be- 
come a  brilliant  conversationalist,  if  he  cared  to,  but  he 
seems  to  prefer  hearing  others  talk. 

Those  who  have  known  him  long  say  he  has  always 
been  of  a  sensitive  nature,  and  of  quiet  and  retiring  dis- 
position. When  with  others  he  has  little  to  say,  but  is 
one  of  the  best  of  listeners.  He  never  misses  a  word 
that  is  addressed  to  him,  and  shows  his  keen  interest  by 
his  expression  and  attitude. 

He  also  has  a  remarkable  memory,  and  seems  not  to 
forget  anything  he  hears  or  reads,  especially  if  it  has 
anything  in  it  that  will  make  "  good  sermon  stuff.'* 
Even  when  among  his  most  intimate  friends,  he  lets 
them  do  most  of  the  talking.  He  tells  many  stories  in 
illustrating  his  sermons,  and  good  ones,  too,  and  he  tells 
them  with  master  strokes,  but  seldom  or  never  does  he 
tell  a  story  in  private  conversation. 

Sunday  has  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  and  enjoys  hear- 
ing a  good  story  as  well  as  any  one,  but  it  must  be  clean 

226 


PERSONAL  MATTERS  S^Ti 

in  thought  and  language.  He  will  not  listen  to  any- 
thing that  is  at  all  questionable. 

Billy  is  quite  fastidious  about  his  clothes.  They  must 
fit  him  "  like  the  paper  on  the  wall."  He  is  never  seen 
on  the  platform  wearing  anything  that  has  the  remotest 
suspicion  of  a  wrinkle  in  it.  He  believes  that  some  men 
are  as  divinely  called  to  be  tailors  as  he  has  been  to 
preach,  and  so  he  allows  the  tape  measure  to  be  passed 
over  his  person  only  by  the  knight  of  the  goose  he  is 
sure  fills  the  bill  on  that  line.  It  is  because  his  tailor 
is  an  artist  that  everywhere,  except  at  Winona  Lake, 
Sunday  always  looks  as  though  he  had  just  stepped  out 
of  a  fashion  plate.  How  he  looks  at  Winona  is  shown 
in  one  of  the  illustrations. 

He  generally  carries  a  half-dozen  suits  with  him,  in  a 
wardrobe  trunk,  that  takes  them  through  without  a  crease, 
and  he  sees  to  it  that  they  are  all  kept  pressed  and 
ready  to  put  on.  He  never  wears  a  Prince  Albert,  or 
anything  that  gives  him  a  preacher  look.  To  have  the 
preacher  marks  about  him,  he  fears,  might  make  some 
men  take  the  other  side  of  the  street,  and  as  a  servant 
of  God  he  wants  to  get  as  close  to  men  as  he  can. 

A  few  years  ago  he  always  wore  a  white  vest,  but  now 
he  is  usually  seen  clad  in  a  two-piece  suit,  with  a  belt. 
His  linen  is  always  immaculate,  and  his  ties  very  neat 
and  tasty,  and  harmonizing  with  his  suit.  He  sweats 
so  profusely  when  speaking  that  he  has  to  buy  expensive 
ties  to  prevent  their  being  faded.  His  overcoat  is  about 
the  only  article  of  dress  he  ever  puts  on  that  has  much 
weight,  for  he  seems  to  abhor  heavy  clothing  as  he  does 
a  hypocrite,  and  sticks  to  light  summer  underwear  all 
the  year  round,  and  yet  he  seems  never  to  take  cold. 

One  of  Billy's  strongest  peculiarities  is  that  he  will  not 
often  use  adhesive  postage  stamps  in  his  correspondence. 


228  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

To  receive  a  letter  with  a  stamp  stuck  to  it,  and  purport- 
ing to  come  from  him,  would  be  certain  to  awaken  dis- 
trust from  any  of  his  intimate  friends.  No  psychologist 
has  ever  undertaken  to  give  a  scientific  explanation  of 
just  why  Sunday  will  not  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
gummed  postage  stamp,  but  the  milk  in  the  cocoanut  is 
probably  this : 

In  the  days  when  a  letter  from  the  girl  who  is  now 
Mrs.  Sunday  was  due  to  reach  him  every  day,  and  two 
on  Monday,  there  were  times,  no  doubt,  when  in  spite 
of  the  best  intention  on  the  part  of  the  sender,  the  stamp 
would  come  off,  and  if  the  creamy  missive  reached 
William  at  all,  its  beauty  was  marred  by  having  "  two 
CENTS  DUE  "  smeared  upon  it  with  a  rubber  stamp,  by 
a  postal  clerk  who  had  no  poetry  in  his  soul,  and  which, 
considering  the  way  Billy  was  "  gone  on  Nell,"  must 
have  greatly  marred  his  enjoyment  of  the  closely  written 
eighteen  scented  pages,  and  postscript  on  a  piece  of  curl 
paper  he  found  inside. 

But  whether  this  is  the  correct  surmise  or  not,  the  fact 
remains  that  Billy  always  keeps  well  stocked  up  with 
government  envelopes,  which  have  the  stamp  both  em- 
bossed and  printed  in  the  grain,  so  that  if  the  letter  ever 
reaches  its  destination  the  stamp  cannot  be  somewhere 
else. 

Sunday  shaves  himself,  and  does  it  good  and  proper, 
too,  with  the  same  kind  of  a  razor  Noah  had  in  the 
ark.  He  abominates  a  safety  as  a  Turk  does  soap,  and 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Those  who  live  in  the 
same  house  with  him  sometimes  hear  wails  in  the  morn- 
ing hour,  that  in  their  drowsy  state  make  them  dream 
that  one  of  the  domestics  is  doing  penance  for  mortal 
sin,  but  they  are  soon  sufficiently  aroused  to  know  that 
**  it  is  only  the  boss  in  the  bathroom  shaving." 


PERSONAL  MATTERS  2!29 

Sunday  is  good  at  drawing  the  blade,  but  he  is  not 
an  artist  at  sharpening  a  razor,  and  as  he  will  not  wait 
a  minute  for  anybody  else  to  help  him  there,  he  makes 
up  by  main  strength  for  what  the  razor  lacks  in  edge, 
and  so  both  he  and  those  who  want  to  sleep  have  to 
suffer  the  consequences.  A  more  deliberate  man  than 
Billy  would  have  a  smoother  time,  in  some  ways,  and 
so  would  his  friends. 

Sunday  has  had  many  experiences  that  do  not  come 
to  all  of  us.  When  a  little  fellow  out  in  Iowa,  he  was 
one  day  having  a  small  boy's  time  in  "  the  old  swimmin' 
hole,"  when  he  got  beyond  his  depth,  and  was  so  nearly 
drowned  that  it  took  all  the  neighbors  and  the  hardest 
kind  of  work  to  bring  him  to.  He  still  remembers  the 
experience  with  a  shudder,  and  says  the  common  im- 
pression that  drowning  is  a  most  delightful  death  to  die 
is  all  bunk.  He  wouldn't  go  through  it  again,  he 
says,  for  anything  you  could  name.  He  would  rather 
shave. 

In  the  summer  of  1909  he  made  a  trip  with  Glenn 
Curtiss,  in  an  aeroplane,  and  that  he  remembers  as  beat- 
ing drowning  forty  laps  for  delight.  *'  That  was  some- 
thing worth  while!  Interesting?  You're  talking. 
Something  doing  every  minute;  and  as  for  thrills — a 
half-dozen  at  once  sometimes — and  then  some.  The 
ascension  was  made  at  Winona  Lake,  and  the  sail  around 
over  the  lake,  high  enough  to  get  a  magnificent  viev/ 
reaching  a  long  distance,  and  not  too  high  up  to  see 
things  below  distinctly — it  was  great !  It  was  a  wonder- 
ful— wonderful  experience ;  to  climb  up  into  the  air,  and 
see  the  beautiful  world  God  has  given  to  us,  as  the  birds 
see  it !    Think  of  it !  " 

He  says  the  sentence,  *'  They  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles,"  was  always  a  favorite  promise  of  his. 


^SO  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

but  he  never  expected  to  see  it  so  literally  fulfilled  as 
it  was  in  his  case. 

One  of  Sunday's  experiences  that  proved  to  be  a  most 
unpleasant  one,  occurred  at  Springfield,  111.  One  even- 
ing, soon  aftar  the  beginning  of  the  meeting,  a  man  who 
was  afterward  found  to  be  insane,  made  a  vicious  attack 
upon  him  with  a  wagon  whip,  just  after  he  had  an- 
nounced his  text  and  begun  to  preach.  With  the  subtle 
cunning  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  insane,  the 
man  had  managed  to  elude  the  ushers,  and  smuggle  him- 
self and  his  great  whip  into  a  seat  well  to  the  front. 
Watching  his  chance,  he  sprang  forward,  almost  with 
the  speed  of  light,  and  gave  Sunday  one  most  vicious 
cut  over  the  legs  below  the  knees.  But  before  he  could 
raise  his  arm  to  strike  another  blow,  Sunday  jumped 
from  his  high  platform  upon  the  man,  and  knocked  him 
down  as  he  descended.  Sunday  was  not  much  hurt  by 
the  whip,  but  in  the  jump  his  ankle  was  sprained  so 
badly  that  he  had  to  go  on  crutches  for  several  weeks, 
but  he  never  missed  a  night  service. 

Billy  has  all  sorts  of  experiences  with  people  who  are 
off  in  their  minds,  and  gets  anonymous  letters  almost 
by  the  hatful,  from  some  of  the  crankiest  cranks  any- 
body ever  had  to  deal  with.  All  such  letters  go  into  the 
waste  basket  without  a  second  glance. 

Sunday  is  a  man  of  many  moods,  and  those  who 
would  get  on  well  with  him  need  to  learn  to  read  them 
as  a  sailor  does  the  weather  signs.  He  is  as  finely 
organized  as  a  thoroughbred  racer,  and  is  of  such  a 
strongly  nervous  temperament  that  he  is  as  sensitive  to 
surrounding  conditions  as  a  thermometer.  He  has  fine 
health,  and  is  always  ready  for  every  duty  that  presents 
itself.  If  he  ever  had  a  regular  spell  of  sickness,  or 
missed  a  speaking  date  through  illness,  the  knowledge 


PERSONAL  MATTERS  ^SV 

of  it  has  never  reached  this  writer.  He  seems  not  to 
require  much  sleep,  and  yet  there  are  times  in  certain 
stages  of  a  meeting  when  he  does  not  sleep  as  well  as 
he  should.  There  are  times  in  every  campaign  when 
the  burden  upon  him  from  the  meeting  is  terrific.  There 
is  so  much  at  stake,  and  so  multitudinous  are  the  cares 
and  details,  and  so  disastrous  would  be  the  result  should 
essential  things  not  be  properly  looked  after,  that  sleep 
is  sometimes  hardest  to  obtain  when  needed  the  most. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  evangelist  was  ever  so  good 
a  sleeper  as  Moody.  He  made  it  a  lifelong  habit  never 
to  sap  his  energy  by  the  slightest  friction  of  worry.  He 
believed  that  if  he  did  the  best  he  knew,  and  did  his 
work  the  best  he  was  able,  the  Lord  could  be  trusted  to 
carry  all  the  burden,  and  that  is  why  he  could  go  on  his 
way  in  light  marching  order.  But  we  must  remember 
that,  in  their  mental  and  physical  makeup.  Moody  and 
Sunday  were  the  opposite  of  each  other. 

Moody  did  his  work  at  a  deliberate  walk,  while  Sun- 
day does  his  on  the  run,  for  the  spirit  of  the  age  has 
taken  hold  of  him.  Moody  never  ran  a  footrace,  even 
to  make  a  train,  while  Sunday  was  a  sprinter  from  his 
babyhood.  Both  were  ever  intensely  in  earnest,  and 
each  with  a  consuming  passion  for  souls,  but  being  so 
opposite  in  character  their  zeal  found  vent  in  quite  dif- 
ferent ways. 

While  in  a  meeting  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  several 
weeks  before  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  at  Pittsburg, 
Sunday  and  his  party  went  over  to  Pittsburg,  to  have 
a  meeting  with  the  ministers  who  had  given  him  a  call. 
When  Sunday  was  introduced  he  called  up  the  different 
members  of  his  party,  one  after  another,  and  asked  each 
one  to  tell  the  ministers  all  about  his  or  her  part  of  the 
work.    The  information  thus  given  created  much  interest 


S32  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

and  surprise  on  the  part  of  the  preachers,  not  many  of 
whom  knew  much  about  the  magnitude  and  extent  of 
the  work.  In  this  way  every  preacher  present  was 
quickly  enabled  to  see  what  a  tremendous  sweep  the 
movement  is  certain  to  have  in  a  city.  After  all  the 
others  had  spoken,  and  answered  all  the  questions  pro- 
pounded to  them,  ''  Ma  "  Sunday  was  called  to  the  plat- 
form, and  also  introduced  by  her  husband.  She  brought 
down  the  house  in  the  very  first  breath,  by  saying — 

"  And  my  work  is  to  sit  on  the  safety  valve." 

Then  in  a  pertinent  little  speech  that  was  full  of  good 
hits  and  plenty  of  information,  the  preachers  of  Pitts- 
burg were  speedily  made  to  see  that  "  Ma  "  Sunday's  part 
in  the  great  movement  is  far  from  being  a  sinecure. 

No  one  could  long  be  associated  with  Sunday  without 
making  the  discovery  that  being  famous  has  its  draw- 
backs. Living  in  the  limelight  has  its  advantages,  to 
be  sure,  and  very  great  ones  they  are  too,  sometimes, 
but  it  also  has  its  drawbacks,  and  nobody  knows  it  better 
than  Billy  Sunday.  It  is  not  always  the  flower-strewn 
path,  arched  with  rainbows  and  carpeted  with  velvet, 
that  those  of  us  who  dwell  in  the  valley  of  humility  may 
suppose  it  to  be.  One  of  the  trying  things  about  it  is, 
that  if  you  do  anything  that  lifts  you  above  the  common 
level,  you  can't  turn  around  without  having  people 
everywhere  put  on  their  nose  glasses  to  stare  at  you. 
Lion  hunters  everywhere  will  get  after  you,  and  chase 
you  up  hill  and  down  without  mercy. 

The  famous  man  is  regarded  as  public  property  every- 
where. On  the  street,  in  the  store,  on  the  train,  in  the 
hotel  or  private  home,  people  will  hold  their  breath  and 
stand  still  to  look  at  him.  If  he  smiles  they  will  look 
tickled,  and  if  he  frowns  they  will  look  serious  and 
shake  their  heads  in  great  solemnity. 


PERSONAL  MATTERS  S33 

It  is  said  that  in  Japan  whenever  an  American  goes 
to  his  room  all  the  neighbors  will  surround  the  house 
and  punch  holes  through  the  paper  walls  with  their  fin- 
gers, through  which  to  stare  at  him.  A  fate  something 
like  that  follows  the  famous  man  in  this  country 
wherever  he  goes.  People  with  eyes  like  X-rays  are 
always  springing  out  upon  him.  There  is  no  retirement, 
no  seclusion  for  him.  Wherever  he  goes  somebody  is 
sure  to  recognize  him  and  let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag, 
and  then  there  is  no  rest  for  the  weary. 

If  Sunday  were  to  meet  all  the  people  who  press  upon 
him  for  interviews  when  he  is  in  the  midst  of  a  campaign, 
he  would  have  no  time  or  opportunity  for  anything  else. 
And  most  of  those  who  thus  want  to  see  him  have  no 
business  with  him  whatever.  They  may  have  heard 
him  preach  somewhere,  years  ago,  perhaps,  and  believe 
it  will  make  him  shouting  happy  for  them  to  call  and 
tell  him  so. 

Sunday  shrinks  from  being  lionized,  and  never  feels 
so  ill  at  ease  as  when  people  gushingly  praise  him  to  his 
face,  and  yet  he  would  not  under  any  consideration  say 
or  do  anything  that  would  in  the  slightest  way  lessen 
his  influence  for  good  with  any  one.  It  is  because  of 
this  that  he  often  gives  up  the  opportunity  for  much 
needed  rest  to  meet  urgent  calls  for  interviews. 

Tens  of  thousands  of  people  have  been  converted 
through  Sunday's  instrumentality,  and  hosts  of  these  feel 
that  they  have  a  strong  personal  interest  in  him,  and 
in  whatever  belongs  to  him.  That  is  why  great  throngs 
go  to  see  his  home  at  Winona  Lake,  and  it  is  also  the 
reason  that  none  who  call  are  ever  turned  away  without 
being  courteously  shown  over  the  house,  even  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  family. 


SERMONS 
By  William  A.  Sunday 


THE  THREE  GROUPS 
Lord,  is  it  I? — Matt.  26:22. 

GOD  created  man  and  placed  him  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  and  gave  him  an  explicit  command,  and 
man  disobeyed,  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the 
penalty  ringing  in  his  ears,  for  God  said :  "  In  the  day 
thou  eatest  of  the  fruit  thou  shalt  surely  die.'* 

The  Lord  did  not  mean  a  period  of  twenty-four  hours, 
but  did  mean  that  man  would  pass  a  crisis  in  his  career. 
Adam  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  this  world  became 
a  graveyard.  If  man  had  not  sinned  we  never  would 
have  died.  All  the  misery,  all  the  disease,  all  the  heart- 
aches have  come  tlirough  sin.  The  hearse  backs  up  in 
front  of  our  homes  and  drives  away  with  our  loved  ones 
because  of  sin. 

But  when  man  sinned  God  gave  the  promise,  "  The 
seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head."  In 
the  fullness  of  time  Jesus  came  into  the  world  in  fulfill- 
ment of  that  promise.  He  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
stilled  the  tempest,  fed  the  multitude  with  five  loaves 
and  two  fishes,  cast  out  devils  and  raised  the  dead.  He 
demonstrated  by  word  and  deed  that  He  was  the  Son 
of  God.  The  Jews  spumed  and  repudiated  His  claim, 
and  their  enmity  finally  culminated  in  His  crucifixion. 
But  before  that  heartrending  tragedy  was  enacted  sev- 
eral incidents  occurred,  from  one  of  which  I  take  my 
text. 

Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  "  Go  your  way  into  the 

237 


2S8  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

village  over  against  you,  and  you  will  find  a  colt  tied, 
whereon  never  man  sat;  loose  him  and  bring  him  to 
Me.  And  if  any  man  ask  you,  Why  do  ye  this?  say, 
The  Lord  hath  need  of  him;  and  straightway  he  will 
send  him  hither."  And  the  disciples  went  their  way 
and  found  the  colt  tied  in  front  of  a  house  where  two 
ways  met,  and  there  was  a  crowd  of  men  loafing  about 
the  place;  and  if  they  were  in  any  way  like  the  bunch 
in  our  day,  they  were  whittling,  cursing,  chewing  tobacco, 
discussing  financial,  political  and  all  other  public  ques- 
tions. 

The  disciples  began  untying  the  colt,  when  one  fellow, 
who  spits  tobacco  juice  enough  to  drown  a  rabbit,  calls 
out,  "  Hey  there !  What  are  you  doing  ?  What  are  you 
going  to  do  with  that  colt  ?  "  The  disciples  call  back : 
"  The  Lord  hath  need  of  him."  So  away  they  go  with 
the  colt  to  where  Jesus  was  and  He  on  its  back  enters 
the  city  of  Jerusalem  on  His  famous  triumphal  entry. 

A  great  multitude  followed,  shouting,  "  Hosanna  to 
the  son  of  David !  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord ! "  They  spread  their  garments  on  the 
ground  in  front  of  Jesus.  They  cut  down  branches 
from  the  trees ;  they  paved  His  way  with  flowers.  You 
would  have  thought  by  their  acclaim  that  then  and  there 
they  would  crown  Him,  but  let  us  wait  and  see. 

Jesus  said  to  Peter  and  John,  "  You  go  on,  and  you 
will  meet  a  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water.  You  follow 
him  into  the  house  he  enters,  and  say  to  the  goodman 
of  the  house,  '  Where  is  the  guest  chamber  ? '  He  will 
show  you  an  upper  room  furnished ;  there  make  ready." 

Jesus  desired  to  eat  the  Passover  feast  with  His  dis- 
ciples, commemorating  the  passing  over  of  the  destroying 
angel,  who  went  throughout  the  land  of  Egypt  and  slew 
the  first-bom  in  every  home  where  the  blood  was  not  on 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  239 

the  doorposts.  That  night  at  the  table  Peter  noticed  that 
Jesus  looked  sad  and  troubled.  Turning  to  John,  who 
was  one  of  the  favored  disciples,  he  said,  "  Ask  Him 
what's  the  matter  ? "  John  said,  ''  Master,  you  look 
worried.  Why  is  it?"  Jesus  replied:  **  One  of  you 
shall  betray  me."  Peter  asked,  in  the  words  of  my 
text :  "  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  "  John  also  asked :  "  Lord,  is  it 
I  ? "  And  Judas,  the  arch  traitor,  had  the  cheek  and 
the  audacity  to  look  Jesus  in  the  face  and  ask :  "  Lord, 
is  it  I  ?  "  When  for  days  he  had  been  bartering  and 
bickering  to  betray  Jesus  to  the  Pharisees  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver;  or  about  fifteen  dollars  and  ninety-five 
cents  in  our  money. 

Jesus  replied :  "  It  is  he  to  whom  I  give  the  sop."  So 
saying,  He  dipped  it  in  the  dish  and  handed  the  sop  to 
Judas,  saying :  "  That  thou  doest,  do  quickly."  Pricked 
to  the  heart  by  the  words  of  Jesus,  Judas  leaped  to  his 
feet,  and  because  he  was  treasurer  of  the  little  apostolic 
band,  seizing  the  money  bag,  he  left  the  room. 

And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn  Jesus,  with  the 
remaining  eleven  disciples,  went  out  and  crossed  the 
brook  Kedron  and  entered  into  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane.  This  brings  me  to  the  subject  of  my  sermon: 
The  Three  Groups  in  the  Garden. 

I.  Difference  in  Position: 

They  were  not  grouped  by  their  rating  in  Bradstreet 
or  Dun.  Every  man  classified  himself;  and  you  do  the 
same.  You  are  where  you  are  because  Jesus  knows  He 
cannot  trust  you  in  a  more  responsible  place.  Judas 
classified  himself  with  the  enemies  of  God. 

The  first  group  was  near  the  edge  of  the  garden ;  the 
second  group  farther  in  the  garden,  while  Jesus,  we 
are  told,  was  a  stone's  throw  farther  on.    The  first  group 


g40  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

of  disciples  was  so  near  the  edge  of  the  garden  that  they 
would  have  had  only  a  short  distance  to  go  to  have 
been  outside  where  Judas  was,  with  the  scribes, 
Pharisees  and  the  mob. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  but  it's  the  truth.  The  truth  is 
not  always  pleasant  to  hear,  but  it's  profitable  for  all 
who  will  profit  by  the  truth.  The  first  group  is  analogous 
to  the  position  of  a  large  percentage  of  members  in  the 
average  church  to-day.  They  live  such  a  selfish,  indif- 
ferent, apathetic,  "  good  Lord,  good  devil,"  milk  and 
chalk,  cider  and  vinegar  sort  of  a  life  that  it's  hard  to 
tell  whether  they  are  in  the  church  or  in  the  world.  I 
detest  any  man  who  will  trim  his  sails  to  catch  a  passing 
breeze  of  popularity,  and  fight  under  a  doubtful  flag. 
I  love  to  see  a  person  come  clear  out  for  God  without 
compromise. 

The  nearer  the  relationship  the  stronger  are  the  ties 
of  obligation.  I  owe  to  Mrs.  Sunday  and  our  children 
that  which  I  do  not  owe  to  any  other  woman  or  children 
in  the  world,  because  of  my  relationship.  You  owe  to 
your  wife  and  children  that  which  you  do  not  owe  to 
any  other  beings.  I  owe  to  Jesus  that  which  I  do  not 
owe  to  the  world.  I  testify  of  the  world  that  its  deeds 
are  evil.  I  do  not  care  whether  they  hiss  me  or  applaud 
me;  whether  they  dine  me  or  damn  me.  Jesus  said: 
"  The  world  will  hate  you  as  it  hateth  Me."  "  Woe  unto 
thee  when  all  men  speak  well  of  thee."  One  of  the 
most  uncomplimentary  things  that  can  be  said  at  your 
funeral,  is  that  you  had  no  enemies.  If  you  live  an 
uncompromising  life  for  Christ  you  will  have  enemies. 

The  nearer  the  relationship  the  greater  the  provoca- 
tion. I  could  in  one  act  break  my  wife's  heart,  and 
bring  disgrace  upon  my  children,  but  that  act  would  not 
put  a  tear  in  your  eye.    Why?    Because  all  the  interest 


(TKRBK  ORQirPS.   Page   2) 

Churches  want  MORS  GOD 

LKSS   DRK£S=ST?.IPB=MONfiY-SOCRL  LIFK 
ILLUS.    WOMN   LniCOLN 


II.DIFFEHb'NCB   £IZK( 


I 


Most  glorious  exploits  not   always   furnish 
oleerest   index"  rice — rlrtue — ©to/( 


Sometimes   look- -word — presence    ^  \^ £8ST£^ 


/Talk  with   Jesus  -*,  i/Talk  v.ith  the  LIGHT" 

H0V7  many   disciples?  {  IwHERE   JasUS?  DOU'T  KIIOW 

IIAB    12--0NS   GONiJ  ASTRAY    1  /      "        P.    J.    JHo.    "    "         , 

JUIL'.S   BOUGHT   TICKST  KBLL  (       "        JUDAS? 

30  pieces   silvw  J  ( WKIJT  PAST  SAlIFJiDRIN 

IJCT  RCUND-ThI?  EITKTO 


)jssus  GoirFltT.  trans,  f.  j.  jo  hit? 

PATH3R  30Y   POgSESSSL  WITH  DSYIL  GAMU   TO   8 
Is   fat  he  rliei^  never  had  trouble  boy? 


Is   father  here   never  had  trouble  boy?  l  n^^nfoFii 

This   father  weighted   trouble-~child  — devill  mv^^^>\ 

YST   SOfclfi  Pb'OPLE   THIilK  THROWING  STONUS   TIISM  to  SPBAK 
AGAINST   THS  DKVII.^ 

SAY  "oU)  L5VIL  ?A¥S  WAY   L3T  STAY  "  ^^£0  JA^^^ 

LIC£NSa   G3?  SALOON— -rAVfiS   STRBET.    etoW't^^-     '  *^ 

PccrH.   /a5A/V^ 
EVSRY   SALOON   GI^/ES  DKVIL  CHANCE  GST  BOY  /«''*^" 

I?  VANT  WORLD   BHTTrH^   AFTSR  WHIL3   KS5P   TEH  DBYIL  OUT  BOY 


rsrought   to   disciples  Gould   cast  out  ^ 

S CARD-PLAY I!IG-»DANCING   GRO'^   CAt:T  NO  DBVILj 


''V 


e 


A    SINGLE   SHEET    FROM    MR.    SUNDAY'S    SERMON    NOTES. 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  241 

you  have  toward  me  is  that  I  may  entertain  or  instruct 
you,  and  perhaps  your  concern  ends  there. 

I  have  imagined  that  the  conduct  of  multitudes  who 
are  in  the  church  must  almost  break  the  heart  of  Christ. 
God  has  the  right  to  say,  ''  I  did  not  send  My  Son  into 
the  world  to  bathe  it  in  blood  and  tears,  and  open  His 
veins  with  the  cruel  instrument  of  the  cross,  to  redeem 
you  to  serve  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  but  to  serve  Me.  I 
want  your  influence,  your  time,  your  money,  your 
prayers,  your  tears." 

Alexander  the  Great  was  once  asked  to  engage  in  the 
Olympic  games.  He  replied :  *'  I  will,  if  kings  are  to  be 
mine  antagonists  on  the  race  track."  If  we  were  found 
doing  nothing  in  this  world  that  is  not  in  harmony  with 
our  birth  from  above  we  would  move  this  old  sin-soaked 
world  Godward.  You  cannot  do  as  you  please.  The 
higher  you  climb  the  plainer  you  are  seen.  When  you 
are  away  from  home,  don't  forget  that  God  is  every- 
where. 

When  the  son  of  Fulvius  was  discovered  with  the  con- 
spirators of  Catiline,  his  old  father  rebuked  him  by  say- 
ing :  "  I  did  not  beget  thee  to  serve  Catiline,  but  to 
serve  your  country — Rome !  "  You  are  redeemed  by  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  not  to  serve  the  world,  but  to 
serve  God. 

I  love  to  see  people  as  loyal  to  Jesus  as  was  Speaker 
Lenthall  to  the  Constitution  in  the  days  of  King 
Charles  I.  When  commanded  to  dissolve  Parliament, 
he  said :  "  I  have  neither  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  nor 
tongue  to  speak,  but  as  the  Constitution,  whose  servant 
I  am,  is  pleased  to  direct  me."  Or  as  Prince  William 
of  Orange  was  to  the  Netherlands  in  the  thirty-seven 
years  of  war.  King  Philip  of  Spain  offered  him  fabulous 
sums  to  surrender.    Prince  WilHam  sent  back  that  mes- 


^42  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

sage  which  has  become  mosaiced  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Dutch  people :  ''  Not  for  life  nor  wife,  nor  children,  nor 
lands  would  I  mix  in  my  cup  one  drop  of  the  poison  of 
treason !  "  No  wonder,  that  when  he  was  slain  by  the  hand 
of  an  assassin,  little  children  stopped  playing  and  cried. 

Many  of  our  churches  are  not  much  more  than  mere 
social  organizations.  They  spend  more  time  in  develop- 
ing along  social  lines  than  along  spiritual  lines.  Business 
men  and  influential  church  members  do  not  do  their 
duty;  they  are  completely  wrapped  up  in  their  own 
affairs.  They  are  busy  with  the  pursuits  and  frivolities 
of  the  world,  and  they  lose  the  track.  The  old-time 
fire  and  the  old-time  spirit  are  lacking.  What  can  we 
-expect  from  a  social  club  other  than  a  leading  away 
from  God?  Our  churches  need  more  of  God;  less  of 
■dress,  strife  after  wealth,  and  social  life. 

A  woman  in  a  western  city  went  to  her  pastor  and 
asked:  "What  can  I  do  to  win  my  husband  to  Christ?" 
He  answered :  "  You  cannot  win  anyone  to  Christ  the  way 
you  live."    She  hung  her  head  in  shame  and  went  home. 

When  her  husband  and  her  son,  a  young  man  of 
eighteen,  came  home,  she  said  to  them :  "  I  wish  you 
would  remain  a  little  while  after  dinner.  I  want  to 
speak  with  you."  They  stepped  into  the  parlor,  and 
she  put  an  arm  about  each  and  said :  "  I  have  not 
l)een  a  consistent  Christian,  therefore  I  feel  I  have  not 
been  as  good  a  wife  to  you,  husband,  or  as  good  a 
mother  to  you,  son,  as  I  should  have  been.  Will  you 
join  me  in  prayer  that  God  will  forgive  me?"  They 
all  three  kneeled,  and  she  tried  to  pray,  but  all  she 
could  say  was,  "O  God!  O  God!"  But  the  Spirit 
broke  up  the  fountains  of  the  deep,  and  all  three  wept. 
A  few  days  later  her  husband  publicly  accepted  Christ 
and  joined  the  church. 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  24S 

"  Husband,  tell  me  why  I  couldn't  win  you  to  Christ 
before?''  she  asked,  and  he  said:  '*  I  would  ask  you 
to  go  with  me  to  the  theater,  and  you  would  go;  to  the 
dance,  and  you  would  go;  to  play  cards,  and  you  would. 
You  drank  wine  with  me.  Then  you  would  ask  me  to 
go  to  church  with  you,  and  to  prayer  meeting,  and  I 
would  go.  You  went  where  I  went,  and  I  went  where 
you  went.  You  did  what  I  did,  and  I  did  what 
you  did.  Wherein  was  your  life  any  better  than 
mine  ?  " 

To  be  able  to  convict  others  of  sin,  we  must  ourselves 
first  get  right  with  God. 

n.  Difference  in  Size: 

Eight  in  the  first  group.  Three  in  the  second  group. 
Jesus  alone  forms  the  third.  The  largest  number  in  the 
first  group.  Farthest  from  Jesus.  Nearest  to  the  world. 
That  has  always  been  true  of  every  church  that  I  knew 
anything  about.  Ask  the  minister  for  a  list  of  his  mem- 
bers; then  sit  down  and  check  off  the  prayer  meeting 
members.  You  will  find  the  largest  number  nearer  the 
card  party  and  wine  supper;  closer  to  the  world  than 
to  the  cross  of  Christ.  Somebody  said  to  Daniel  Web- 
ster when  he  was  a  boy :  ''  What  are  you  going  to  be 
when  you  are  a  man  ?  "  "A  lawyer,"  he  repUed.  "  But 
the  profession  is  overrun."  Webster  answered :  **  There 
is  plenty  of  room  at  the  top."  The  nearer  you  get  to 
Jesus  the  more  elbow  room  you  will  have  and  the  less 
the  crowd.  The  most  glorious  exploits  do  not  always 
furnish  us  with  the  clearest  index  of  the  vices  or  virtues 
of  men  and  women.  Sometimes  a  word,  an  act,  a  ges- 
ture; your  absence  or  your  presence  will  give  a  clearer 
insight  into  your  manhood  or  womanhood,  or  lack  of 
both,  than  some  deed  of  bravery  or  act  of  prowess. 


2U  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

Let  us  talk  with  Jesus  a  minute.  "  Jesus,  how  many 
disciples  have  you?  "  ''  I  had  twelve.  I  have  but  eleven 
now."  "  Where  is  the  missing  one?  "  "  He  has  gone  to 
betray  Me."  "  And  yet  with  eleven  left  you  are  praying 
all  alone  ? "  Just  like  many  a  minister  with  hundreds 
of  members,  and  bearing  the  burden  all  alone. 

Judas  bought  a  ticket  for  hell  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver,  and  it  wasn't  a  round-trip  ticket  either.  Let  us 
go  talk  with  the  eight: 

"Where  is  Jesus?"  "We  don't  know."  "Where 
are  Peter,  James  and  John  ?  "  "  Don't  know ;  haven't 
seen  them."  "Where  is  Judas?"  "Why,  he  just  went 
past  not  long  ago,  with  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  and 
a  great  company."  "Where  was  he  going?"  "Why, 
he  was  looking  for  Jesus,  to  betray  Him."  "  Why  do 
you  think  that  ?  "  "  Because  to-night  at  the  feast  Jesus 
said,  '  One  of  you  shall  betray  Me,  and  it  is  he  to  whom 
I  give  the  sop,'  and  after  dipping  it  in  the  dish  He 
handed  it  to  Judas."  "  Didn't  you  try  to  stop  him  in 
his  dastardly  work  of  betrayal?  "  "  No."  "  Well,  don't 
you  suppose  Judas  thought  he  would  find  Jesus  here 
with  you  men  ?  " 

No,  he  never  suspected  that  Jesus  was  near  that 
bunch.  Judas  knew  that  crowd.  He  knew  that  first 
group  out  near  the  edge  of  the  garden  through  and 
through.  Why  do  I  think  so?  I  will  tell  you.  Jesus 
had  gone  up  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  taking 
with  him  Peter,  James  and  John,  members  of  the  second 
group,  and  while  He  was  away  a  father  whose  boy  was 
possessed  with  a  devil  came  to  the  disciples  who  com- 
posed the  first  group,  out  near  the  edge  of  the  garden, 
and  besought  them  to  cast  the  devil  out  of  his  boy. 

Jesus  had  given  His  disciples  power  against  unclean 
spirits,  to  drive  them  out,  but  instead  of  doing  the  work 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  245 

He  gave  them  to  do,  they  spent  the  time  chewing  the 
rag  about  who  would  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom. 

I  wonder  if  there  is  a  father  in  this  world  who  never 
had  trouble  with  his  boy.  This  father  was  weighted 
down  with  trouble  all  caused  by  the  devil.  The  devil 
is  the  cause  of  every  saloon,  every  drunkard,  every 
murder,  every  theft,  every  lie,  every  heartache,  every 
house  of  shame.  All  of  the  deception,  envy,  malice, 
filthy  communications  that  come  out  of  your  mouth  are 
prompted  by  the  devil,  and  yet  some  people  think  I  am 
throwing  stones  at  them  when  I  preach  against  the  devil. 

Some  say,  ''  Well,  the  devil  pays,  so  let  him  stay.  We 
need  the  license  from  the  saloons  to  pave  our  streets  and 
light  our  city.'*  Yes,  and  you  need  your  saloons  in  order 
to  keep  your  jails,  penitentiaries,  poorhouses  and  insane 
asylums  filled.  Every  saloon  gives  the  devil  that  much 
better  chance  to  get  your  boy. 

If  you  want  the  world  to  be  better  after  a  while,  keep 
the  devil  out  of  the  boys  and  girls.  If  you  want  to  drive 
the  devil  out  of  the  world,  hit  him  with  a  cradle,  not 
a  crutch. 

When  Jesus  returned  from  the  mount  the  sorrowing 
father  ran  to  Him  with  his  boy,  crying,  "  If  Thou  canst 
do  anything,  have  compassion  on  us,  and  help  us.  I 
brought  my  son  to  Thy  disciples,  and  they  could  not 
cast  the  devil  out !  " 

That  "  if  "  implies  a  doubt.  Failure  on  the  part  of 
those  disciples  to  keep  in  touch  with  Jesus,  so  they  could 
have  power  to  cast  out  devils,  led  the  poor  old  father 
to  doubt  the  power  of  Jesus.  The  divine  philosophy, 
as  demonstrated  by  thousands  of  church  members,  breeds 
more  infidels  than  all  the  Paines,  Parkers  and  Ingersolls 
combined. 

As  a  principle  increases  in  its  meaning,  it  decreases  in 


^46  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

the  number  that  should  adhere  to  that  principle.  Suppose 
by  education  I  mean  every  one  who  can  read  and  write ; 
then  there  are  about  eighty-five  millions  of  educated 
people  in  the  United  States.  But,  suppose  that  by  edu- 
cation I  mean  every  one  who  has  graduated  from  high 
school ;  about  one-fifth  of  the  population  would  be  classi- 
fied as  educated.  On  the  other  hand,  if  by  education 
I  mean  every  one  who  has  graduated  from  a  university 
or  a  college ;  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  would  come  under 
that  heading. 

Suppose  by  your  friends  you  mean  all  who  shake  your 
hand,  smile  and  say,  ''  How  are  you  ?  I  am  glad  to  see 
you."  You  have  scores  of  friends  of  that  sort ;  but  sup- 
pose by  friends  you  mean  all  who  will  stand  by  you 
through  thick  and  thin,  and  defend  you  when  they  hear 
your  name  defamed,  I  fear  they  are  lamentably  few. 
Suppose  by  a  Christian  I  mean  every  one  who  has  his 
name  on  a  church  record;  there  are  about  twenty-six 
millions  in  the  United  States,  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  Catholics  and  Protestants.  On  the  other  hand, 
suppose  I  mean  every  man  and  woman  who  is  willing 
to  do  God's  will;  I  question  whether  there  are  ten  mil- 
lions that  would  die  for  Jesus. 

I  said  to  a  minister  one  time,  "  How  many  members 
have  you  ?  "  He  said,  *'  Eight  hundred  and  seventy-two ; 
but  there  are  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  I  do  not 
count."  I  asked :  "  Out  of  the  number  you  do  count, 
how  many  are  helping  in  the  meetings :  singing  in  the 
choir,  ushering  or  doing  personal  work  ?  "  Tears  flowed 
down  his  cheeks  as  he  said,  the  largest  number  I  have 
been  able  to  muster  any  one  night  was  twenty-eight, 
and  if  my  life  depended  on  my  making  the  number  fifty, 
I  would  die !  " 

There  we  were  wearing  out  our  lives,  trying  to  bring 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  247 

that  God-forsaken,  whisky-soaked,  gambling-cursed,  har- 
lot-blighted town  to  her  knees,  and  the  church  calmly- 
looking  on.  I  sometimes  doubt  whether  the  church  needs 
new  members  one-half  as  much  as  she  needs  the  old 
bunch  made  over.  Judging  by  the  way  multitudes  in 
the  church  live,  you  would  think  they  imagined  they 
had  a  through  ticket  to  heaven  in  a  Pullman  palace  car, 
and  had  left  orders  for  the  porter  to  wake  them  up  when 
they  head  into  the  yards  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  If 
that's  the  case  you  will  be  doomed  to  disappointment, 
for  you  will  be  side-tracked  with  a  hot  box. 

If  I  had  a  hundred  tongues,  and  every  tongue  speak- 
ing a  different  language,  in  a  different  key  at  the  same 
time,  I  could  not  do  justice  to  the  splendid  chaos  that 
the  world-loving,  dancing,  card-playing,  whisky-guzzling, 
gin-fizzling,  wine-sizzling,  novel-reading  crowd  in  the 
church  brings  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  There  is  but  one 
voice  from  faithful  preacher  and  worker  about  the 
church,  and  that  is,  "  She  is  sick,"  but  we  say  it  in  such 
painless,  delicate  terms  that  she  seems  to  enjoy  her  in- 
validity. About  four  out  of  five  who  have  their  names 
on  our  church  records  are  doing  nothing  to  bring  the 
world  to  Christ,  and  the  church  is  not  one  whit  better 
for  their  presence.  As  a  satisfaction  for  all  this,  Chris- 
tians are  making  a  great  deal  out  of  Lent.  I  believe  in 
a  Lent  that  is  kept  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
in  the  year.  I  think  it  a  travesty  on  the  teachings  of 
Christ  that  any  one  can  get  such  an  overstock  of  piety 
on  hands  in  forty  days  they  can  live  like  the  devil  the 
rest  of  the  year.    That's  an  old  trick  of  the  devil. 

The  Jewish  church  struck  that  rock  and  was  wrecked. 
The  Roman  Catholic  church  struck  and  was  split.  The 
Protestant  church  is  fast  approaching  the  same  doom. 
One  of  the  great  dangers,  as  I  see  it,  is  assimilation  to 


g48  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

the  world ;  the  neglect  of  the  poor ;  substitution  of  forms 
for  the  facts  of  godliness ;  a  hireling  ministry,  all  summed 
up,  means  a  fashionable  church,  with  religion  left  out. 

Formerly  Methodists  attended  class  meeting  and  gave 
testimony ;  now  the  class  meeting  has  become  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Shouts  of  praise  used  to  be  heard.  Now  such 
holy  demonstrations  are  considered  undignified.  Occa- 
sionally some  godly  old  sister,  who  is  a  sort  of  a  con- 
necting link  between  the  old  and  the  new,  pipes  up  in 
a  weak,  negative  falsetto,  apologetic  kind  of  a  voice, 
and  says : 

"  Amen,  Brother  Sunday !  " 

I  don't  expect  one  of  these  ossified,  petrified,  mil- 
dewed, dyed-in-the-wool,  stamped-on-the-cork,  blown-in- 
the-bottle,  horizontal,  perpendicular  Presbyterians  or 
Episcopalians  to  shout  "  Amen ! "  but  it  would  do  you 
good  to  loosen  up.    Many  of  you  are  hide-bound. 

I  believe  half  of  the  professing  Christians  amount  to 
nothing  as  a  spiritual  force.  They  go  to  church,  have 
a  kindly  regard  for  religion,  but  as  for  having  a  firm 
grip  on  God,  a  cheerful  spirit  of  self-denial,  enthusiastic 
service  and  prevailing  prayer,  and  willingness  to  strike 
hard,  staggering  blows  against  the  devil,  they  are  almost 
failures.  A  shell  has  been  invented  which,  when  it 
strikes  a  ship,  puts  everybody  on  board  to  sleep.  Some 
such  thing  seems  to  have  hit  our  churches. 

III.  Difference  in  Revelation: 

Jesus  said  to  the  members  of  the  first  group,  near  the 
edge  of  the  garden,  largest  in  numbers,  "  Sit  ye  here." 
To  those  composing  the  second.  He  said,  "  My  soul  is 
exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.  Tarry  ye  here, 
and  watch  with  Me.  Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into 
temptation.     The  spirit  truly  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  249 

weak."  But  when  He  was  alone  He  cried,  "  Father,  if 
it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me:  nevertheless, 
not  My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done." 

Notice  the  progressive  stages  of  revelation.  Not  a 
word  to  Judas.  To  the  eight  nearest  the  world,  He 
said,  "  Sit  ye  here."  To  Peter,  James  and  John,  He 
said,  "  Watch  and  pray."  When  alone  with  the  Father, 
"  Thy  will  be  done."  He  told  the  Father  what  He  did 
not  tell  Peter,  James  and  John.  He  told  them  what  He 
did  not  tell  the  group  of  eight;  what  He  did  not  tell 
Judas.  Do  you  wish  God  to  reveal  the  deep  things  of 
the  Spirit  to  you?  Then  turn  your  back  on  the  sinful 
things  and  creep  close  to  His  side. 

Jesus  will  never  unfold  His  revelations  to  you  when 
you  are  lined  up  in  front  of  a  bar  drinking,  or  when  you 
are  at  a  baseball  game  on  the  Sabbath,  or  living  in  sin. 
Jesus  did  not  ask  the  members  of  the  first  group,  near 
the  edge  of  the  garden,  to  pray.  Perhaps  they  would 
have  refused.  Every  minister  knows  there  are  certain 
members  of  his  church  that  he  never  thinks  of  asking 
to  lead  in  prayer.  In  fact  they  never  darken  a  prayer 
meeting  door;  if  a  card  party  takes  place  on  prayer 
meeting  night  they  are  at  the  party.  Yet  we  wonder 
why  this  old  sin-blighted  world  is  not  on  her  knees.  I 
am  amazed  that  God  is  doing  as  well  as  He  is,  with  the 
crowd  He  has  to  work  with. 

Please  pardon  a  personal  reference:  I  was  born  and 
bred,  not  in  Old  Kentucky,  although  my  grandfather  was 
born  in  Lexington,  but  in  Old  Iowa.  I  was  a  rube  of 
the  rubes,  a  hayseed  of  the  hayseeds.  I  have  greased 
my  hair  with  goose  grease.  I  have  blacked  my  boots 
with  stove  blacking.  I  have  wiped  my  face  on  a  gunny- 
sack  towel.  I  have  eaten  with  my  knife.  I  have  drank 
coffee  out  of  my  saucer.     I  have  said  "  done  it,"  when 


250  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

I  should  have  said,  *'  did  it ; "  "  came,"  when  I  should 
have  said,  "  come  " ;  "  seen,"  when  I  should  have  said, 
"  saw."  I  am  a  graduate  from  the  university  of  poverty 
and  hard  knocks,  and  I  have  taken  post-graduate  courses. 
My  autobiography  could  be  summed  up  in  one  line  from 
Gray's  "  Elegy  " :  "  The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
poor." 

My  father  enlisted  four  months  before  I  was  born. 
He  went  to  the  front  with  Company  E,  Twenty-third  Iowa 
Infantry,  but  he  never  came  back.  He  died  and  was 
buried  at  Camp  Patterson,  Mo.  I  have  battled  my  way 
since  I  was  six  years  old.  I  know  all  about  the  dark 
and  seamy  side  of  life.  If  ever  a  man  fought  hard  every 
inch  of  his  way,  I  have. 

One  day  mother  said,  "  Boys,  I  am  going  to  send  you 
to  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at  Glenwood,  Iowa." 
We  had  to  go  to  Ames  to  take  the  train.  We  went  to 
a  little  hotel  to  wait,  and  about  one  o'clock  some  one 
came  and  said,  "  Get  ready  for  the  train ;  it's  coming." 

I  looked  into  mother's  face.  Her  eyes  were  red; 
her  hair  was  disheveled.  I  said,  "  What's  the  matter, 
mother?"  All  the  time  Ed  and  I  slept  mother  had  been 
praying.  We  went  to  the  train.  Mother  put  one  arm 
about  me  and  the  other  about  Ed,  and  sobbed  as  if  her 
heart  would  break.  People  walked  by  and  looked  at  us, 
but  they  didn't  say  a  word.  Why?  They  didn't  know, 
and  if  they  had  they  wouldn't  have  cared.  Mother  knew ; 
she  knew  that  for  years  she  wouldn't  see  her  boys. 

We  got  into  the  train  and  cried,  "  Good-by,  mother !  " 
as  the  train  pulled  out.  We  reached  Council  BluflFs.  It 
was  cold,  and  we  turned  up  our  little  thin  coat  collars 
over  our  necks  and  shivered.  We  saw  a  hotel,  and 
went  up  and  asked  a  woman  for  something  to  eat.  She 
said,  "  What's  your  name?  "    "  My  name  is  Willie  Sun- 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  251 

day,  and  this  is  my  brother  Ed,"  I  said.  ''  Where  are  you 
going  ?  "  "  Going  to  the  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home  at 
Glenwood."  She  wiped  her  tears  and  said,  "  My  husband 
was  a  soldier,  and  he  never  came  back.  He  wouldn't 
turn  any  one  away,  and  I  certainly  won't  turn  you  boys 
away."  She  threw  her  arms  about  us  and  said,  "  Come 
on  in."    She  gave  us  our  breakfast,  and  our  dinner  too. 

There  wasn't  any  train  going  out  on  the  Burlington 
until  afternoon.  We  played  around  the  yards.  We  saw 
a  freight  train  standing  there,  so  we  climbed  into  the 
caboose.  The  conductor  came  along  and  said,  "  Where 
is  your  money?"  "Ain't  got  any."  "Where's  your 
tickets?"  "Ain't  got  any."  "You  can't  ride  without 
money  or  tickets.     I'll  have  to  put  you  off." 

We  commenced  to  cry.  My  brother  handed  him  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
Orphans'  Home.  The  conductor  read  it,  handed  it  back 
as  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks ;  then  said :  "  Just  sit 
still,  boys.     It  won't  cost  you  a  cent  to  ride  on  my  train." 

It's  only  twenty  miles  from  Council  Bluffs  to  Glen- 
wood, and  as  we  rounded  the  curve  the  conductor  said, 
**  There  is  the  Home  on  the  hill." 

Mother  knew.  Ed  didn't  know.  I  didn't  know.  I 
went  to  sleep.    So  did  Ed ;  but  mother  knew.    She  prayed. 

Jesus  knew.  He  prayed.  Peter,  James  and  John 
went  to  sleep.  You  can't  make  me  believe  that  if  you 
knew  you  would  act  as  you  do.  If  you  will  tell  me  how 
much  you  read  the  Bible,  how  much  you  pray,  how  much 
you  do  to  help  people  to  Jesus  Christ,  I  will  tell  you  to 
what  figures  you  point  on  the  spiritual  thermometer. 
The  trouble  is,  you  will  be  in  the  church  on  Sunday 
morning,  and  will  keep  a  little  spot  about  eighteen  inches 
square  warm  for  half  an  hour;  listen  to  the  sermon; 
pick  up  a  book  and  sing,  "  Jesus  paid  it  all,"  when  you 


252  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

have  debts  that  are  outlawed.  He  doesn^t  pay  them.  He 
doesn't  pay  for  that  hat,  or  that  set  of  false  teeth  you 
are  wearing.  You  get  up  and  say,  "  I  am  standing  on 
the  solid  rock.''  You  are  probably  standing  in  a  pair 
of  shoes  you  haven't  paid  for  yet.  Let's  get  cleaned  up 
for  God,  and  see  if  the  Lord  won't  do  great  things. 
He  will  not  send  the  wind  to  drive  our  ships  unless  we 
have  faith  to  lift  our  sails. 

IV.    Difference  in  Duty  : 

To  the  members  of  the  first  group  Jesus  said,  "  Sit 
ye  here."  To  those  of  the  second  group  He  said,  "  Watch 
and  pray."  While  His  duty  was  to  bear  the  sins  of  the 
world,  there  are  multitudes  in  the  church  that  do  noth- 
ing. They  are  mere  ciphers.  At  a  funeral  the  preacher 
failed  to  appear.  The  undertaker  thought  it  would  be 
a  downright  shame  to  put  the  man  away  without  some- 
thing being  said,  and  so  concluded  to  make  a  few  re- 
marks himself.  So  when  the  time  came  he  cleared  his 
throat,  and  in  a  pious  whine  said :  "  Dear  friends,  this 
corpse  has  been  a  member  of  this  church  for  forty 
years !  " 

"  Crucify  Him ! "  cried  the  relentless  rabble.  The 
vociferations  of  that  infuriated  mob  shook  the  temple 
from  foundation  to  turret  top.  Often  in  civil  strife  had 
been  witnessed  some  such  animosity  and  hatred  of  the 
multitudes.  Truly  all  the  phantoms  of  hell  seem  to  have 
assembled  in  Jerusalem,  and  out  through  the  funeral  gate 
poured  the  mob. 

Here  comes  Judas,  leading  the  devil's  crowd.  Turn- 
ing to  the  Pharisees,  he  said,  "  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss, 
that  same  is  He;  hold  Him  fast."  See  the  smile  on  his 
hypocritical,  sanctimonious  countenance,  as  he  rushes 
forward   shouting,    "  Hail,   Master ! "   and   kisses   Him. 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  253 

Jestis  answers,  ''  Judas,  betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  man 
with  a  kiss  ?  " 

They  seize  Him,  and  take  Him  to  the  High  Priest's 
house,  where  He  is  condemned  on  false  testimony  to  a 
felon's  death  on  the  cross. 


"Must  Jesus  bear  the  cross  alone, 
And   all   the   world  go   free? 
No !  There's  a  cross  for  every  one, 
And  there's  a  cross  for  me." 

As  one  has  beautifully  pictured  the  scene,  by  saying 
he  imagined  that  had  we  been  there,  and  God  had  given 
us  power  of  vision,  we  might  have  seen  the  hilltops  cov- 
ered with  angels,  and  the  air  filled  with  the  heavenly 
hosts,  all  gazing  breathless  upon  that  scene.  The  arch- 
angel opened  the  door  of  heaven,  and  cried: 

"  O  Jesus !  if  you  want  me  to  come  to  your  help,  raise 
your  head  and  look  this  way;  and  I  will  come  with  a 
legion  of  angels  to  your  help !  "  But  Jesus  suffered  on. 
He  imagined  the  archangel  once  more  leaning  over  the 
battlements  of  heaven,  and  crying  again,  with  a  voice  that 
shook  the  earth : 

"  O  Jesus !  thou  Son  of  God !  If  you  want  me  to  come 
and  hurl  that  howling,  bloodthirsty  mob  into  hell,  tear 
your  right  hand  loose  from  the  cross  and  wave  it !  " 
But  Jesus  clenched  His  fingers  over  the  nails  in  His  hands 
and  suft'ered  on.  Why  ?  To  open  up  a  plan  of  salvation 
which,  if  we  will  accept,  will  keep  us  out  of  hell. 

Suddenly  He  cried :  "  It  is  finished ! "  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  plucked  the  olive  branch  of  peace  from  the  cross, 
and  winging  His  flight  back  burst  through  the  gates  of 
glory,  shouting :  "  Peace !  Peace !  Peace !  has  been 
made  through  His  death  on  the  cross." 


S54  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

How  many  will  go  with  Jesus  to  the  last  ditch  ?  Thou- 
sands will;  but  there  are  many  who,  like  the  disciples, 
follow  Him  to  the  Garden,  but  forsake  Him  at  the  Cross. 
How  many  will  say  with  Jesus,  "  Not  my  will,  but  Thine 

be  done."     Say  it  with  me :   "  Not  my  will,  but " 

finish  the  sentence.  All  the  peace,  all  the  power,  all  the 
blessing  of  a  Christian  life  and  eternal  joy  are  found  in 
the  three  words  you  have  left  out — "  Thine  be  done." 
It  costs  some  too  much  to  say,  "  Thine  be  done."  One 
says,  "  If  I  say  that  the  saloon-keepers  won't  come  to 
my  store  to  trade.  If  I  said  that  I  would  have  to  close 
my  store  on  the  Sabbath."  "  If  I  said  that  I  could  not 
accept  Mrs.  So-and-So's  invitation  to  a  card  party."  "  If 
I  said  that  I  would  have  to  pay  my  debts."  *'  If  I  said 
that  I  would  have  to  go  home  and  burn  up  the  prizes 
I  have  won  at  progressive  euchre."  ''  If  I  said  that  I 
could  not  go  to  the  brothel  any  more  and  crawl  into  the 
arms  of  infamy."  "  If  I  should  say,  *  Thy  will  be  done/ 
I  should  have  to  throw  the  wine  out  of  my  cellar  and 
break  up  my  beer  bottles.  I  am  going  to  have  a  few 
bottles  for  dinner  to-night."  "  I  could  not  go  to  the 
ball  game  on  Sunday  afternoon  if  I  said  that."  "  I  would 
have  to  stop  lying  about  my  neighbors  if  I  said  that." 
Oh,  yes,  it  costs  too  much  to  say  "  Thine  be  done."  That 
is  the  reason  you  lose  out.  That's  the  reason  you  have 
moral  curvature  of  the  spine.  That's  the  reason  your 
spiritual  batting  average  is  not  up  to  God's  league 
standard. 

"  Not  my  will,  but "  there's  where  you  cash  in. 

There's  where  you  go  into  the  ditch.  There's  where 
you  turn  off  the  light.  There's  where  you  hang  up  the 
receiver.  There's  where  you  ring  off.  There's  where 
you  puncture  your  tire.  There's  where  you  strike  out. 
It  costs  too  much  to  say,  "  Thine  be  done." 


THE  THREE  GROUPS  ^55 

"  Say,  papa,  may  I  go  with  you  ?  "  asked  a  little  boy 
of  his  father. 

''  Yes,  son,  come  on,"  said  the  father,  as  he  threw 
the  ax  over  his  shoulder,  and,  accompanied  by  a  friend, 
went  to  the  woods  and  felled  a  tree.  The  little  fellow 
said: 

"  Say,  papa,  can  I  go  and  play  in  the  water  in  the 
lagoon  ?  " 

**  Yes,  but  be  careful,  and  don't  get  into  the  deep  water; 
keep  close  to  the  bank." 

The  little  fellow  was  playing,  digging  wells,  picking 
up  stones  and  shells,  and  talking  to  himself,  when  pretty 
soon  the  father  heard  him  cry : 

**  Hurry,  papa,  hurry !  " 

The  father  leaped  to  his  feet,  grabbed  the  ax  and  ran 
to  the  lagoon  and  saw  the  boy  floundering  in  deep  water, 
with  hands  outstretched,  a  look  of  horror  on  his  face, 
as  he  cried: 

"  Hurry,  papa,  hurry ;  the  alligator  has  got  me ! " 

The  hideous,  amphibious  monster  had  been  hibernating, 
and  had  come  out,  lean,  lank,  hungry,  voracious,  and 
seized  the  boy.  The  father  leaped  into  the  lagoon  and 
was  just  about  to  sink  the  ax  through  the  head  of  the 
monster,  when  he  turned  and  swished  the  water  with  his 
huge  tail  like  the  screw  of  an  ocean  steamer,  and  the 
little  fellow  cried  out: 

**  Hurry,  papa,  hurry !  " 

The  blood-flecked  foam  told  the  story. 

When  I  read  that,  for  days  I  could  not  eat,  for  nights 
I  could  not  sleep.     I  said : 

"  O  God,  what  if  that  had  been  my  boy ! " 

There  are  influences  in  this  world  worse  than  an  alli- 
gator, and  they  are  ripping  and  tearing  to  shreds  our 
virtue,  our  morality.     Young  men  are  held  by  intemper- 


256  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

ance;  others  by  vice.  Drunkards  are  crying  to  the 
church,  "  Hurry  faster ! "  and  the  church  members  sit 
on  the  bank  playing  cards,  sit  there  drinking  beer  and 
reading  novels. 

"Hurry!" 

They  are  splitting  hairs  over  fool  things,  instead  of 
trying  to  keep  sinners  out  of  hell! 

"  Faster !    Faster !    Faster !  " 

"Lord,  is  it  I?" 


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UNDER  THE  SUN 

What  profit  hath  a  man  of  all  his  labor  which  he  taketh  under 
'the  sun  ? — Eccl.  i  :3. 

THIS  question  is  asked  and  answered  by  King  Sol- 
omon, and  in  our  language  it  means  about  this : 
"  What  good  does  a  man  get  out  of  life  if  he  lives 
only  for  what  this  world  can  give  ?  " 

If  any  man  has  ever  been  able  to  give  the  right  answer 
to  this  great  question,  out  of  his  own  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience, that  man  was  Solomon.  If  any  man  ever  came 
into  this  world  with  a  gold  spoon  in  his  mouth,  he  cer- 
tainly did.  The  devil  has  a  mortgage  on  some  people^ 
from  the  cradle,  but  Solomon  had  no  such  handicap,  for 
he  was  w^ell  born.  He  was  the  favorite  son  of  one  of 
the  greatest  and  best  men  who  ever  lived,  for  his  father. 
King  David,  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart — which 
means  that  he  just  suited  the  Lord. 

Solomon  was  made  king  of  a  great  kingdom  in  his 
early  manhood,  while  his  father  was  still  alive  to  counsel 
and  help  him.  From  this  we  see  that  he  had  every  ad- 
vantage that  high  station  and  boundless  wealth  and  oppor- 
tunity could  give  him.  He  had  wisdom,  riches,  wealth 
and  honor  such  as  no  king  ever  had  before  him  or  since. 

An  invincible  army  stood  ready  to  do  his  bidding,  and 
all  the  power  of  a  great  nation  that  was  under  the 
especial  protection  and  favor  of  God  was  behind  him. 
He  had  only  to  command,  and  it  was  done;  to  express 
a  wish,  and  it  was  gratified.     He  had  received  the  best 

257 


£58  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

education  it  was  possible  to  give  him,  and  was  called 
the  wisest  of  men.  The  fame  of  his  wisdom  covered 
the  earth,  and  caused  the  Queen  of  Slieba,  with  a  great 
retinue,  to  make  a  long  pilgrimage  of  weary  weeks  and 
months,  to  sit  at  his  feet  in  wonder.  She  looked  upon 
the  beauty  of  his  wonderful  palace  and  the  magnificent 
temple  he  had  built.  She  reviewed  his  matchless  army; 
considered  the  numbers  of  men  who  served  him  and  the 
elegance  of  their  livery;  then  she  looked  in  amazement 
upon  the  wealth  of  gold  and  precious  things  that  sur- 
rounded him,  and  took  her  departure,  declaring  that  the 
half  had  not  been  told  her. 

This  is  the  kind  of  ability  Solomon  had  with  which 
to  answer  his  own  question.  He  wrote  three  thousand 
proverbs  and  a  thousand  and  five  songs,  all  full  of  wis- 
dom. If  he  wasn't  qualified  to  speak  as  an  expert,  where 
can  we  find  one? 

Let  us  see  how  well  qualified  he  was  to  know  what  he 
was  talking  about  from  his  own  actual  experience.  Every 
great  pleasure  was  at  his  finger-tips.  If  he  wanted  any- 
thing he  had  only  to  reach  out  his  soft,  jeweled  hand 
and  take  it.  His  kingdom  had  peace  and  rest  from  war 
during  all  of  his  reign,  so  that  he  had  plenty  of  time 
to  enjoy  himself.  And  from  what  he  says  of  himself 
he  lost  no  time,  for  he  took  about  all  the  degrees  and 
invented  a  few  of  his  own.  He  was  a  thirty-third  degree 
sport. 

He  lived  in  a  palace,  surrounded  by  courtiers  who  were 
not  spring  chickens,  and  all  highbrows  themselves.  He 
was  honored,  admired  and  flattered  as  few  men  have 
been.  No  greater  honor  than  his  could  be  known,  no 
greater  wisdom  found  in  any  books,  and  no  higher  station 
attained.  He  was  so  rich  that  his  wealth  could  not  be 
measured.     He  had  forty  thousand  horses  and  twenty 


UNDER  THE  SUN  259 

thousand  horsemen.  The  high  cost  of  Hving  never 
troubled  him,  for  his  provisions  for  his  household  and 
attendants  one  day  were:  Two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
bushels  of  fine  flour;  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  bushels 
of  meal;  ten  fat  oxen  out  of  the  stall;  twenty  oxen  out 
of  the  pasture ;  one  hundred  sheep,  besides  harte,  roebuck, 
fallow  deer  and  fatted  fowl. 

Solomon  had  no  ambition  that  had  not  been  achieved ; 
no  curiosity  that  had  not  been  satisfied.  Like  his  princely 
father,  he  was  a  close  observer,  and  nothing  escaped  him, 
so  that  he  was  able  to  say :  "  I  have  seen  all  the  works 
that  are  done  under  the  sun,"  meaning  that  the  world 
had  nothing  more  to  show  him  or  to  give  him — and  that 
was  certainly  going  some. 

At  some  time  in  our  lives  we  have  all  envied  men 
of  great  scholarship  and  intellectual  attainments,  and 
have  thought  of  what  a  foretaste  of  heaven  it  would  be 
to  have  the  time  and  opportunity  to  learn  all  the  things 
we  would  like  to  know.  We  have  believed  that  one  of 
the  greatest  joys  this  life  could  give  is  the  joy  of  knowing 
things.  Well,  Solomon  not  only  drank  that  well  dry,  but 
he  pulled  out  the  pump,  for  he  exhausted  all  the  schools 
and  colleges  of  his  day,  and  gave  all  his  teachers  nervous 
prostration  in  their  vain  endeavor  to  teach  him  something 
more  than  he  already  knew.  And  then  when  he  had 
pumped  that  fountain  dry,  he  sighed  and  said :  "  Go  to, 
now ;  I  will  see  what  I  can  get  out  of  mirth  and  pleasure,'* 
and  then  he  cut  loose  on  that  line,  and  began  to  carry 
on  in  a  way  to  make  a  baseball  fan  at  the  world's  series 
look  like  a  dummy  in  a  clothing  store  window. 

He  got  into  his  golden  chariot  with  the  diamond-set 
wheels  and  went  round  the  track  in  a  way  to  set  the 
bleachers  crazy.  At  breakneck  speed  he  galloped  over 
the  rose-lined  avenues  of  sensuous  pleasures  that  opened 


S60  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

for  him  in  every  direction,  looking  as  if  they  led  straight 
to  paradise;  but  ere  long  his  shining  car  of  delight  lost 
a  wheel  and  he  was  down  in  the  mud  again,  and  crying 
out  to  any  who  might  be  following  in  his  wake: 

*'  Go  back !  Don't  come  this  way,  for  here  all  is  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit ! " 

Then  he  took  to  wine  and  the  rosiest  kind  of  dissipa- 
tion. He  hit  up  the  booze.  He  tried  a  lot  of  things. 
He  had  a  great  natatorium  built,  that  was  supported  by 
great  lioi^s.  Then  he  began  to  love  many  strange  women, 
laying  hold  on  folly  with  both  hands.  That's  where  he 
struck  out.  He  had  seven  hundred  wives  and  three  hun- 
dred concubines,  but  soon  had  to  give  the  same  verdict 
as  before,  and  again  cry  out: 

"  Vanity,  vanity ;  all  is  vanity !  " 

Then  he  thinks  he  has  discovered  something  really 
substantial,  and  so  goes  to  building  great  works  and 
houses,  chief  of  which  is  the  magnificent  temple,  still 
called  by  his  name.  It  required  seven  years  to  build 
it,  and  took  the  combined  efforts  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-three  thousand  Jews  and  strangers  to  do  the  work. 
It  took  ten  thousand  men  eleven  years  to  cut  the  trees. 
There  were  eighty  thousand  hewers  of  wood,  and  seventy 
thousand  burden  bearers.  There  were  eighty  thousand 
squared  stones,  all  so  perfectly  shaped  in  the  quarries 
that  the  sound  of  neither  hammer  nor  mallet  was  heard 
in  putting  them  together  in  the  temple. 

At  the  completion  of  the  work  there  was  a  feast  of 
seven  days  at  its  dedication,  and  Solomon  sacrificed  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  sheep  and  twenty  thousand 
oxen. 

The  temple  was  built  of  white  marble,  so  artfully  joined 
that  it  appeared  like  one  stone.  The  roof  was  of  olive 
wood,  covered  with  pure  gold.     That  is  where  the  idea 


WOMEN    ONLY        MEETING,   THOUSANDS   BEING  TURNED 

AWAY. 


UNDER  THE  SUN  261 

of  covering  the  domes  of  many  of  our  capitol  buildings 
with  gold  leaf  originated.  When  the  sunshine  fell  on 
the  temple  its  splendor  was  so  dazzling  that  the  eyes 
were  almost  blinded. 

The  temple  courts  and  apartments  could  house  three 
hundred  thousand  people.  There  were  fourteen  hundred 
and  fifty-three  columns  of  Parian  marble;  twenty-nine 
hundred  and  six  pilasters  or  columns.  Over  three  billion 
dollars'  worth  of  gold  was  used.  One  billion  dollars' 
worth  of  silver  was  used  on  the  floors  and  walls,  which 
were  overlaid  with  gold  and  silver. 

There  were  two  hundred  targets  of  beaten  gold,  with 
six  hundred  shekels  of  gold  in  each  target.  There  were 
three  hundred  targets  with  three  hundred  shekels  in 
each  target.  There  were  three  hundred  shields  of  beaten 
gold,  with  three  pounds  of  gold  in  each  shield,  and  the 
value  of  the  gold  that  came  to  Solomon  in  one  year  was 
about  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  When  the  temple  was 
dedicated  the  glory  of  God  filled  it. 

Then  Solomon  turned  his  great  talent  and  wealth 
toward  making  a  beautiful  Jerusalem,  by  planting  vine- 
yards and  laying  out  gardens  that  were  like  Fairyland, 
and  then  like  a  tale  of  magic  he  produced  orchards,  in 
which  he  had  a  great  collection  of  the  finest  and  rarest 
trees  in  all  the  world.  Trees  from  every  clime,  and 
flowers  of  every  kind  and  hue  were  there,  and  all  these 
were  kept  green  and  beautiful  by  irrigation  from  artificial 
lakes.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  world  had  ever  seen  greater 
beauty  than  Solomon  with  his  unlimited  power  produced 
in  Jerusalem  at  that  time,  but  even  all  this  pleased  his 
fancy  only  for  a  little  while,  and  soon  he  seems  to 
have  nothing  but  dust  in  his  mouth,  and  again  cries 
out: 

"All  is  vanity!" 


^6^  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

But  almost  immediately  he  seems  to  have  taken  up 
another  whim,  and  says : 

"  I  got  me  servants  and  maidens,  and  also  had  great 
possessions  of  great  and  small  cattle,  above  all  that  were 
in  Jerusalem  before  me.  I  gathered  me  also  silver  and 
gold,  and  the  peculiar  treasure  of  kings,  and  of  the 
provinces.  I  got  me  men  singers  and  women  singers, 
and  the  delights  of  the  sons  of  men,  as  musical  instru- 
ments, and  that  of  all  sorts,"  meaning,  no  doubt,  that  he 
became  an  art  collector,  and  began  to  feed  on  the  beauti- 
ful, the  artistic  and  esthetic,  somewhat  as  millionaires 
are  doing  now,  securing  for  himself  the  very  best  to  be 
had  in  painting,  old  china,  bric-a-brac,  sculpture,  musical 
instruments,  singers  and  performers,  and  then  at  voluptu- 
ous ease  he  would  lie  on  a  princely  couch  that  seemed 
almost  to  float  in  the  air,  and  drink  to  the  full  all  he 
could  get  out  of  them  in  the  way  of  enjoyment. 

But  presently  he  is  again  almost  dying  with  disappoint- 
ment, and  crying  out  in  the  same  old  doleful  tone : 

"  All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit !  " 

Meaning  that  there  was  nothing  in  it  all  but  an  empty 
puff  of  air  that  could  only  fill  a  bubble  for  a  moment. 
And  then  he  goes  on  to  say : 

"  So  I  was  great,  and  increased  more  than  all  that 
were  before  me  in  Jerusalem;  and  whatever  mine  eyes 
desired  I  kept  not  from  them.  I  withheld  not  my  heart 
from  joy;  for  my  heart  rejoiced  in  all  my  labor.  Then 
I  looked  on  all  the  works  my  hands  had  wrought,  and 
on  the  labor  that  I  had  labored  to  do,  and 

"  Behold,  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit,  and 
there  was  no  profit  under  the  sun !  " 

And  so  this  wise  and  honored  and  wealthy  man  goes 
on  drinking  first  from  one  golden  cup  and  then  another, 
only  to  dash  them  all  away  as  soon  as  tasted  in  bitter 


UNDER  THE  SUN  263 

disappointment,  and  then  after  he  had  tried  them  all, 
to  say,  ''  Not  one  can  satisfy !  "  confirming  what  his  father 
David  had  said  in  the  statement,  *'  The  young  Hons  do 
lack  and  suffer  hunger,"  and  just  what  every  millionaire 
on  earth  to-day  knows  from  his  own  experience. 

To  find  starvation  of  the  most  awful  kind  to-day,  don't 
go  down  into  the  slums,  but  go  to  the  people  w4io  are 
enormously  wealthy.  Andrew  Carnegie  says  there  are 
no  happy  millionaires,  and  Andy  ought  to  know,  for  he's 
got  the  dough.  John  D.  Rockefeller  has  about  as  good 
as  confessed  that  he  got  more  out  of  the  first  thousand 
dollars  he  made  than  out  of  any  ten  millions  he  has  made 
since,  and  to-day  he  is  perhaps  the  hungriest  man  in  all 
the  world. 

Every  man  wants  to  be  satisfied.  I  do.  So  do  you. 
Every  one  is  reaching  out  for  happiness  and  peace  and 
rest.  There  are  men  before  me  who  have  tried  many 
things  in  pursuit  of  happiness.  You  have  climbed  high 
and  you  have  probed  deep,  and  some  of  you  have  not 
found  what  you  have  sought.  All  who  are  here  are 
on  the  verge  of  eternity.  The  past  is  simply  a  memory, 
the  future  an  uncertainty.  No  matter  how  old  you  are; 
no  matter  if  your  hair  is  gray;  no  matter  what  your 
bank  account  may  be ;  some  of  you  must  say,  "  I  have 
not  found  happiness.  I  am  a  failure.  My  life  has  been 
a  failure.     All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit!" 

Why  don't  you  be  a  man  ?  Why  don't  you  show  a 
man's  courage,  and  take  up  the  cross  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 
Why  don't  you  rise  to  what  you  might  be?  We  were 
all  meant  for  better  things.  You  were  never  meant  for 
the  slop  and  the  swill  barrels  of  the  devil.  Why  do  you 
let  the  devil  control  you?  Why  do  you  let  him  make 
you  a  pawn  on  the  board  on  which  he  plays  his  game  ? 

Why  do  you  spend  your  money  for  that  which   is 


^64  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

not  bread?  Is  there  any  bread  in  rum?  Ask  the  poor 
fellows  who  have  been  spending  their  earnings  for  drink 
during  all  these  years.  Ask  their  wives  and  their  chil- 
dren. No  bread  for  them.  Ask  the  saloon-keeper. 
There  is  bread  in  it  for  him,  but  none  for  those  who 
drink  what  he  sells. 

But  to  go  back  to  Solomon's  doleful  cry  of  "  All  is 
vanity ! "  What  does  it  mean  ?  Was  Solomon  a  dys- 
peptic, as  most  millionaires  are  ?  Have  you  ever  noticed 
that  it  takes  more  religion  to  make  a  dyspeptic  smile 
than  it  does  to  make  a  healthy  man  shout?  Was  there 
something  wrong  with  Solomon's  liver,  or  what  was  the 
matter?  Was  the  trouble  all  with  Solomon,  or  is  all 
creation  out  of  joint?  Is  there  no  good  to  be  found  in 
any  of  the  things  with  which  he  employed  his  time? 
Is  going  to  school  no  better  than  wasting  time  in  idle- 
ness? Does  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  l^eautiful  carry 
with  it  a  curse  and  not  a  blessing?  Is  there  no  benefit 
in  architecture,  music  or  sculpture  ?  Is  there  nothing  but 
evil  in  wealth,  wisdom  and  high  station  in  life?  Was 
Solomon  really  starving  while  apparently  feeding  on  the 
finest  of  the  wheat  ?  He  said  so  many  things  that  appear 
to  contradict  all  he  said  about  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit — and  so  what  does  it  mean? 

But  wait  a  moment.  Here  is  something  that  seems 
to  throw  light  on  the  matter.  When  Solomon  says,  "  All 
is  vanity,"  he  also  says,  "  under  the  sun,"  and  that  shows 
the  standpoint  from  which  he  drew  his  conclusions.  What 
we  see  as  we  go  through  life  always  depends  upon  where 
we  stand  to  look.  Many  a  man  who  tries  to  talk  as  if 
he  were  standing  on  a  mountain,  shows  by  what  he  says 
that  he  is  up  to  his  eyes  in  the  mud. 

When  a  man  tells  you  that  the  whisky  business  is  a 
good  thing  for  the  country,  you  know  that  he  is  looking 


UNDER  THE  SUN  265 

at  things  through  the  eyes  of  a  brewer  or  a  saloon-keeper, 
and  not  through  the  eyes  of  a  father  who  has  a  son 
that  has  become  a  drunkard. 

When  a  man  tells  you  that  he  don't  believe  in  foreign 
missions,  you  know  that  he  don't  know  any  more  about 
what  pure  and  undefiled  religion  is  than  a  jack  rabbit 
knows  about  running  for  president.  From  what  he  says 
you  know  the  viewpoint  from  which  he  has  come  to  his 
conclusion.  To  know  a  man's  viewpoint  is  to  know  why 
he  sees  the  thing  he  claims  to  see,  and  now  we  know 
why  Solomon  said: 

'*  All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit !  "  It  was  because 
he  was  looking  at  things  from  the  viewpoint  of  ''  under 
the  sun."  As  if  a  man  could  tell  what  a  rainbow  were 
like  while  standing  on  his  head  in  a  dark  cellar. 

In  the  little  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  from  which  the  text 
is  taken,  the  expression  ''  under  the  sun  "  occurs  thirty- 
one  times,  as  if  Solomon  wanted  every  one  to  understand 
that  what  he  said  therein  was  said  from  the  standpoint 
of  low  ground.  The  great  king  was  looking  at  things 
from  a  low,  sensual,  materialistic  plane,  and  from  that 
viewpoint  every  word  he  said  was  true.  Take  away  God, 
take  away  the  Bible,  take  away  inspiration  and  revelation, 
take  away  all  hope  of  a  better  life  in  the  world  to  come 
— destroy  all  thought  of  resurrection,  and  put  in  its  place 
nothing  but  hopeless  and  endless  night,  and  you  have 
nothing  left  that  is  worth  living  for.  The  life  of  the 
greatest  and  wisest  man  is  then  no  better  than  that  of  a 
fool.  The  best  fruits  of  the  world  would  then  turn  to 
ashes  on  the  lips,  and  it  were  better  to  die  than  to  live. 

Blot  out  everything  except  what  we  can  know  tl\rough 
our  senses,  and  keep  from  us  all  light  from  a  source 
higher  than  the  sun,  and  the  very  best  this  life  can  give 
is  worse  than  nothing  at  all.     Destroy  in  every  man  the 


^66  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

divine  spark  that  tells  him  there  is  a  God,  and  that  there 
is  a  beyond,  and  every  grave  would  hold  a  suicide.  Let 
all  hope  die,  and  despair  would  reign. 

We  have  only  begun  to  know  a  little  about  the  soul 
when  we  discover  that  nothing  under  the  sun  can  satisfy 
it.  It  was  this  great  truth  Solomon  began  to  realize  after 
he  found  nothing  but  disappointment  in  the  very  best 
the  world  could  give  him.  Under  the  sun  nothing  lasts ; 
nothing  endures ;  nothing  satisfies.  No  sooner  do  we  be- 
gin to  think  we  have  a  thing  safe  forever  than  it  is  gone. 
We  love  but  to  lose.  Whatever  we  have  is  ours  but 
for  one  brief  moment,  and  the  anguish  of  our  loss  is  a 
wound  that  never  heals.  No  happiness  is  possible  with- 
out the  hope  of  certainty,  and  the  thing  we  feel  we  must 
have  mocks  us  as  it  flies.  No  fountain  under  the  sun  can 
hold  enough  to  satisfy  an  immortal  spirit,  and  that  very 
fact  proves  us  to  be  spirits  in  prison  while  we  are 
here. 

All  the  gold  mines  in  the  world  have  not  given  up 
treasure  enough  to  satisfy  the  man  who  has  a  greed 
for  gain.  The  man  with  a  hunger  for  honor  and  dis- 
tinction has  never  been  able  to  get  enough  of  it,  and 
the  same  can  be  said  of  everything  else  for  which  men 
strive  and  struggle  and  destroy  each  other  and  themselves. 

Nothing  this  world  can  give  is  worth  while,  unless 
while  living  in  it  we  can  have  more  than  is  revealed  by  the 
light  of  the  sun.  Destroy  the  Bible  and  all  faith  in  God, 
and  we  might  as  well  eat,  drink  and  be  merry  and  die. 
Nothing  will  do  unless  it  can  give  us  the  wings  of  the 
morning  and  let  us  mount  higher  than  the  sun,  for  what 
can  a  mole  know  about  the  sunrise,  or  a  man  in  a  pit 
know  about  the  beauty  of  the  mountains?  No  heaven 
we  can  build  for  ourselves  without  God  can  be  more 
than  a  little  ante-room  to  hell.     Without  God  and  reve- 


UNDER  THE  SUN  26T 

lation  and  the  Bible  and  hope  of  heaven,  all  is  indeed 
vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

But  at  last  Solomon  spreads  the  wings  of  faith  and 
gets  higher  than  the  sun,  and  when  he  does  the  change 
in  his  viewpoint  changes  the  meaning  of  life,  for  now 
he  can  see  with  a  clear  eye. 

I  know  a  man  who  through  some  difficulty  with  his 
vision  can  see  scarcely  anything  a  little  distance  away, 
but  one  day  he  went  up  in  a  balloon,  and  when  over  a 
half-mile  high  he  could  see  like  a  bird.  In  fact  he  could 
see  better  than  he  had  ever  believed  anybody  could  see, 
and  it  was  that  way  with  Solomon  when  he  reached  the 
place  where  his  faith  could  lay  hold  on  God. 

Listen  to  this,  and  note  how  his  vision  has  expanded, 
and  his  sight  cleared  up :  "  Surely  I  know  (no  uncertainty 
about  that)  that  it  shall  be  well  with  them  that  fear 
God."  There  is  no  more  talk  about  everything  being 
vanity  now,  and  the  reason  is  because  at  last  he  has 
a  viewpoint  higher  than  the  sun,  as  is  always  the  case 
with  even  the  humblest  man  who  has  faith  in  God. 
Solomon  can  now  see  that  nothing  good  is  ever  lost,  and 
that  bread  cast  on  the  waters  is  sure  to  return  after 
many  days.  He  now  sees  that  wisdom  is  better  than 
weapons  of  war,  the  plain  meaning  of  which  in  our  day 
is  that  good  common-sense  is  better  protection  than  a 
slungshot.  And  then,  to  sum  up,  he  closes  the  book  by 
saying : 

*' Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter: 
Fear  God,  and  keep  His  commandments,  for  this  is  the 
whole  duty  of  man.  For  God  shall  bring  every  work 
into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be 
good,  or  whether  it  be  evil."  And  there  is  no  vanity 
about  anything  God  does. 

And  now  let  us  employ  our  time  for  a  little  while 


g68  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

with  some  of  the  men  who  have  looked  at  Hfe  from  a 
viewpoint  higher  than  the  sun.  It  was  this  that  kept 
Noah  working  away  on  the  ark  for  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  without  seeing  a  flash  of  hghtning  or  hearing  a 
clap  of  thunder.  Had  he  been  living  only  for  what  he 
could  see,  it  would  never  have  been  said  of  him  that 
"  he  was  a  just  man  and  perfect,  and  walked  with  God/' 
The  man  who  walks  with  God  will  not  spend  much  time 
in  thinking  about  the  bugs  that  may  be  creeping  under 
his  feet. 

Abraham  was  another  man  who  had  a  faith  that  lifted 
him  higher  than  the  sun,  when  looking  for  "  a  city  which 
had  foundations,  whose  maker  and  builder  was  God." 
You  never  hear  a  word  from  that  grand  old  man  about 
all  being  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 

And  then  there  was  Moses.  He  had  a  vision  that 
pierced  the  clouds  and  went  far  beyond  the  sun,  when 
he  saw  that  "  the  reproach  of  Christ "  would  bring  him 
greater  and  more  lasting  riches  than  the  treasures  of 
Egypt,  that  he  might  have  had  by  simply  folding  his 
arms  and  doing  nothing.  But  he  endured  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible,  and  that  made  it  easy  for  him  to  refuse 
to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter.  Neither  was 
he  looking  from  the  low  plane  of  "  under  the  sun,"  when 
in  bidding  farewell  to  the  army  he  had  brought  out 
of  Egypt,  he  said :  "  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and 
underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms."  A  man  must  have 
a  sweep  of  faith  reaching  higher  than  the  sun  before  he 
can  say  things  like  that. 

There  is  not  a  word  about  "  under  the  sun "  in  the 
chapter  where  grand  old  General  Joshua  says,  "  As  for 
me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord,"  and  no  such 
words  as  "  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit "  ever  fell  from 
the  lips  of  that  great  captain  of  iron  courage. 


UNDER  THE  SUN  269 

Samuel  was  looking  at  things  from  much  higher  than 
the  sun  when  he  said,  "  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice," 
and  so  was  Job  when  he  said,  "  I  will  trust  Him  though 
He  slay  me,"  and  ''  I  know  that  my  redeemer  lives !  " 

Ezra/  was  not  standing  on  low  ground  when  "  he  pre- 
pared his  heart  to  seek  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  to  do 
it,"  or  when  he  said,  "  The  hand  of  our  God  is  upon 
all  of  them  for  good  that  seek  Him,  and  His  power  and 
His  wrath  is  against  all  them  that  forsake  Him."  The 
same  was  true  of  Nehemiah,  when,  in  building  up  the 
wall  that  was  broken  down,  he  said,  ''  I  am  doing  a  great 
work."  From  "  under  the  sun  "  it  would  have  looked 
very  small. 

David  was  looking  from  higher  than  the  sun,  or  he 
could  never  have  said,  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth 
round  about  them  that  fear  Him,  and  delivereth  them. 
O  taste,  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good ;  blessed  is  the 
man  that  trusteth  in  Him !  "  And  Daniel  had  a  vision 
that  swept  far  higher  than  the  sun  when  he  went  to 
the  lions'  den  w^ith  no  more  anxiety  than  you  and  I  would 
go  to  dinner. 

Stephen's  viewpoint  was  from  much  higher  than  any- 
where "  under  the  sun,"  when  he  cried  out,  "  Behold,  I 
see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man  standing  on 
the  right  hand  of  God !  "  and  then  went  to  his  cruel  death 
with  the  light  of  heaven  on  his  face. 

And  Paul  was  looking  from  higher  than  the  stars,  or 
he  could  never  have  said :  "  For  we  know  that  if  our 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have 
a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens !  " 

And  so  it  was  also  with  John  the  beloved,  when  near 
the  close  of  his  long  and  busy  life  he  took  up  the  much 
worn  pen  with  which  he  had  written  so  much  that  will 


^70  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

still  b€  bright  when  the  stars  are  dim,  and  wrote  the 
precious  words  that  have  been  shining  down  the  centuries 
ever  since :  "  Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father 
hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons 
of  God;  therefore  the  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it 
knew  Him  not.  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God, 
and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know 
that  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  Him ;  for  we 
shall  see  Him  as  He  is !  " 

And  then  still  later,  when  a  white-haired  prisoner  on 
the  Isle  of  Patmos,  and  just  before  he  left  the  world  to 
be  forever  with  the  Lord,  John  again  had  a  vision  of 
things  infinitely  higher  than  the  sun,  and  once  more 
took  up  the  stylus  and  wrote  :  "  And  I  saw  heaven  opened, 
and  behold  a  white  horse ;  and  He  that  sat  upon  him  was 
called  Faithful  and  True,  and  in  righteousness  He  doth 
judge  and  make  war.  .  .  .  And  He  was  clothed  with 
a  vesture  dipped  in  blood;  and  His  name  is  called  the 
Word  of  God.  .  .  .  And  He  hath  on  His  vesture  and 
on  His  thigh  a  name  written,  King  of  Kings  and  Lord 
of  Lords !  " 

Jude  also  was  looking  from  very  much  higher  than 
the  sun  when  he  declared  with  unhesitating  confidence : 
"  That  He  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to  present 
you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  His  glory  with  ex- 
ceeding joy." 

And  O  how  much  higher  than  the  sun  was  Jesus 
looking  from  when  He  said :  "  Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me.  In  My 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions :  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you, 
and  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again, 
and  receive  you  unto  Myself;  that  where  I  am,  there 
ye  may  be  also." 


UNDER  THE  SUN  271 

And  then,  when  after  the  shame  of  the  cross  and  the 
grave,  He  stood  on  resurrection  ground,  how  infinitely 
far  above  the  sun  was  His  eye  fixed  when  He  said  to  the 
eleven  faithful  ones :  "  All  power  is  given  unto  Me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth ;  go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptising  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you;  and  lo, 
I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

And  thank  God  the  time  will  surely  come,  when  in  our 
vision  we  shall  not  be  confined  to  the  low  plane  described 
as  "  under  the  sun,"  but  when  with  Him  in  whom  we 
have  believed  we  shall  be  lifted  "  far  above  all  princi- 
pality and  power,  and  might  and  dominion,"  and  be  with 
Him  forever  in  heavenly  places,  where  we  shall  no  more 
see  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to  face,  and  where 
we  shall  know  as  we  are  known. 


WONDERFUL 
His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful. — Isa.  9:6. 

IN  olden  times  all  names  meant  something,  and  this 
is  still  the  case  among  Indians  and  all  other  people 
who  are  living  in  a  primitive  way.  Whenever  you 
know  an  Indian's  name  and  the  meaning  of  it,  you  know 
something  about  the  Indian.  Such  names  as  Kill  Deer, 
Eagle  Eye,  Buffalo  Face  and  Sitting  Bull  tell  us  some- 
thing about  the  men  who  possessed  them. 

This  tendency  to  use  names  that  are  expressive  still 
crops  out  in  camp  life,  and  whenever  men  are  thrown 
together  in  an  unconventional  way.  In  mining,  military 
and  lumber  camps  nearly  every  man  has  a  nickname 
that  indicates  some  peculiarity  or  trait  of  character. 
Usually  a  man's  nickname  is  nearer  the  real  man  than 
his  right  name. 

All  of  our  family  names  to-day  had  their  origin  in 
something  that  meant  something.  All  Bible  names  have 
a  meaning,  and  when  you  read  the  Scriptures  it  will 
always  help  you  to  a  better  understanding  of  their  mean- 
ing to  look  up  the  definition  of  all  proper  names. 

There  are  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  names  given  in 
the  Bible  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  suppose  this 
was  because  He  was  infinitely  beyond  all  that  any  one 
name  could  express. 

Of  the  many  names  given  to  Christ  it  is  m^r  purpose 
at  this  time  to  briefly  consider  this  one :  *''  His  name  shall 
be  called  Wonderful."     Let  us  look  into  it  somewhat 

272 


WONDERFUL  273 

and  see  whether  He  was  true  to  the  name  given  Him 
in  a  prophecy  eight  hundred  years  before  He  was  bom. 
Does  the  name  fit  Him  ?  Is  it  such  a  name  as  He  ought 
to  have? 

Wonderful  means  something  that  is  transcendently  be- 
yond the  common ;  something  that  is  away  beyond  the 
ordinary.  It  means  something  that  is  altogether  unlike 
anything  else.  We  say  that  Yellowstone  Park,  Niagara 
Falls  and  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  are  wonder- 
ful because  there  is  nothing  else  like  them. 

When  David  killed  Goliath  with  his  sling  he  did  a 
wonderful  thing,  because  nobody  else  ever  did  anything 
like  it.  It  was  wonderful  that  the  Red  Sea  should  open 
to  make  a  highway  for  Israel,  and  wonderful  that  the 
sun  should  stand  still  for  Joshua.  Let  us  see  whether 
Jesus  was  true  to  His  name. 

His  birth  was  wonderful,  for  no  other  ever  occurred 
that  was  like  it.  It  was  wonderful  in  that  He  had  but 
one  human  parent,  and  so  inherited  the  nature  of  man 
and  the  nature  of  God.  He  came  to  be  the  Prince  of 
princes,  and  the  King  of  kings,  and  yet  His  birth  was 
not  looked  forward  to  in  glad  expectation,  as  the  birth 
of  a  prince  usually  is  in  the  royal  palace,  and  celebrated 
with  marked  expressions  of  joy  all  over  the  country,  as 
has  repeatedly  happened  within  the  recollection  of  many 
who  are  here. 

There  was  no  room  for  Him  at  the  inn,  and  He  had 
to  be  born  in  a  stable,  and  cradled  in  a  manger,  and  yet 
angels  proclaimed  His  birth  with  joy  from  the  sky,  to  a 
few  humble  shepherds  in  sheepskin  coats,  who  were 
watching  their  flocks  by  night. 

Mark  how  He  might  have  come  with  all  the  pomp 
and  glory  of  the  upper  world.  It  would  have  been  a 
great  condescension   for  Him  to  have  been  born  in  a 


274  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

palace,  rocked  in  a  golden  cradle  and  fed  with  golden 
spoons,  and  to  have  had  the  angels  come  down  and  be 
His  nurses.  But  He  gave  up  all  the  glory  of  that  world, 
and  was  born  of  a  poor  woman,  and  His  cradle  was  a 
manger. 

Think  what  He  had  come  for.  He  had  come  to  bless, 
and  not  to  curse ;  to  lift  up,  and  not  to  cast  down.  He 
had  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  To 
give  sight  to  the  blind;  to  open  prison  doors  and  set 
captives  free ;  to  reveal  the  Father's  love ;  to  give  rest  to 
the  weary ;  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  whole  world,  and  yet 
there  was  no  room  for  Him.  He  came  to  do  that,  and 
yet  many  of  you  have  no  room  for  Him  in  your  hearts. 

His  birth  was  also  wonderful  in  this,  that  the  wise  men 
of  the  East  were  guided  from  far  across  the  desert  to 
His  birthplace  by  a  star.  Nothing  like  this  ever  an- 
nounced the  coming  of  any  one  else  into  this  world.  As 
soon  as  His  birth  was  known  the  king  of  the  country 
sought  His  life,  and  ordered  the  slaughter  of  the  Inno- 
cents at  Bethlehem.  The  babies  were  the  first  Christian 
martyrs. 

His  character  was  wonderful,  for  no  other  has  ever 
approached  it  in  perfection.  It  is  wonderful  that  the 
greatest  character  ever  known  should  have  come  out  of 
such  obscurity,  to  become  the  most  famous  in  all  history. 
That  such  a  time  and  such  a  country  and  such  a  people 
should  have  produced  Jesus  Christ  can  be  accounted  for 
on  no  other  ground  than  His  divinity.  On  his  return 
from  a  trip  to  the  Holy  Land  a  minister  was  asked  what 
had  made  the  greatest  impression  upon  him  while  there. 
"  Nazareth,"  he  answered,  and  for  this  reason : 

"  The  same  kind  of  people  are  living  there  to-day  as 
in  the  time  of  Jesus,  and  they  are  about  the  worst  speci- 
mens of  humanity  I  have  seen  anywhere.     Lazy,  lustful, 


WONDERFUL  275 

ignorant  and  unspeakably  wicked,  and  to  think  of  His 
coming  out  from  such  a  people  is  to  me  a  sure  proof 
of  His  divinity.  Had  I  not  been  a  believer  in  His  divinity 
before  going  there,  I  should  have  to  believe  in  it  now." 

His  life  was  wonderful.  Wonderful  for  its  unselfish- 
ness, its  sinlessness  and  its  usefulness.  Even  His  enemies 
could  not  bring  against  Him  any  graver  charge  than  that 
He  claimed  God  for  His  Father,  and  that  He  would  do 
good  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Not  the  slightest  evidence 
of  selfishness  or  self-interest  can  be  found  in  the  story 
of  His  life.  He  was  always  helping  others,  but  not  once 
did  He  do  anything  to  help  Himself.  He  had  the  power 
to  turn  stones  into  bread,  but  went  hungry  forty  days 
without  doing  it.  While  escaping  from  enemies  who 
were  determined  to  put  Him  to  death  He  saw  a  man  who 
had  been  blind  from  birth,  and  stopped  to  give  him  sight, 
doing  so  at  the  risk  of  His  life.  He  never  sought  His 
own  in  any  way,  but  lived  for  others  every  day  of  His 
life.  His  first  miracle  was  performed,  not  before  a  mul- 
titude to  spread  His  own  fame_,  but  in  a  far-away  hamlet, 
to  save  a  peasant's  wife  from  humiliation.  He  had  com- 
passion on  the  hungry  multitude  and  wept  over  Jerusa- 
lem, but  He  never  had  any  mercy  on  Himself. 

His  teaching  was  wonderful.  It  was  wonderful  for 
the  way  in  which  He  taught ;  for  its  simplicity  and  clear- 
ness, and  adaptation  to  the  individual.  Nowhere  do  you 
find  Him  seeking  the  multitude,  but  He  never  avoided 
the  individual.  And  His  teaching  was  always  adapted 
to  the  comprehension  of  those  whom  He  taught.  It  is 
said  that  the  common  people  heard  Him  gladly,  and  this 
shows  that  they  understood  what  He  said.  He  put  the 
cookies  on  the  lower  shelf.  No  man  had  to  take  a  dic- 
tionary with  him  when  he  went  to  hear  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.    He  illustrated  His  thought  and  made  plain 


276  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

His  meaning  by  the  most  wonderful  word-pictures.  The 
preacher  who  would  reach  the  people  must  have  some- 
thing to  say,  and  know  how  to  say  it  so  that  those  who 
hear  will  know  just  what  he  means. 

Jesus  made  His  meaning  clear  by  using  plenty  of  illus- 
trations. He  didn't  care  a  rap  what  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  thought  about  it^  or  said  about  it.  He  wanted 
the  people  to  know  what  He  meant,  and  that  is  why  He 
was  always  so  interesting.  The  preacher  who  can't  make 
his  preaching  interesting  has  no  business  in  the  pulpit. 
If  he  can't  talk  over  ten  minutes  without  making  people 
begin  to  snap  their  watches  and  go  to  yawning  all  over 
the  house,  he  has  misunderstood  the  Lord  about  his  call 
to  preach.  Jesus  was  interesting  because  He  could  put 
the  truth  before  people  in  an  interesting  way.  We  are 
told  that  without  a  parable  He  spake  not  to  any  man.  He 
m.ade  people  see  things,  and  see  them  clearly.  It  is 
wonderful  that  this  humble  Galilean  peasant,  who  may 
never  have  gone  to  school  a  day  in  His  life,  should  have 
made  Himself  a  Teacher  of  teachers  for  all  time.  The 
pedagogy  of  to-day  is  modeling  after  the  manner  of 
Christ  closer  and  closer  every  day. 

He  was  wonderful  in  His  originality.  The  originality 
of  Jesus  is  a  proof  of  His  divinity.  The  human  mind 
cannot  create  anything  in  an  absolute  sense.  It  can  build 
out  of  almost  any  kind  of  material,  but  it  cannot  create. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  out-and-out  originality  belong- 
ing to  man.  You  cannot  imagine  anything  that  does 
not  resemble  something  you  have  previously  seen  or  heard 
of. 

I  grant  that  you  can  take  a  cow  and  a  horse  and  a  dog 
and  a  sheep  and  from  them  make  animals  enough  to  fill 
Noah's  ark,  but  you  must  have  the  cow  and  the  horse 
and  the  dog  and  the  sheep  for  a  beginning.     Everything 


WONDERFUL  277 

you  make  will  simply  be  a  modification  of  the  various 
forms  and  properties  of  them. 

There  is  said  to  be  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  and 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  it  is  true.  Everything  is  the 
outgrowth  of  something  else.  The  first  railway  cars 
looked  like  the  old  stage-coaches,  and  the  first  automo- 
biles looked  like  carriages.  It  is  that  way  about  every- 
thing. No  man  ever  made  a  book,  or  even  a  story,  that 
was  altogether  unlike  all  others. 

The  stories  we  hear  to-day  on  the  Irish  and  Dutch 
are  older  than  the  Irish  and  Dutch.  You  can  find  stories 
like  them  in  the  earliest  literature,  but  you  can't  find 
any  stories  anywhere  in  any  literature  that  even  in  the 
remotest  way  resemble  the  parables  of  Jesus.  Such  par- 
ables as  the  prodigal  son  and  the  Good  Samaritan  are 
absolutely  new  creations,  and  so  proclaim  Jesus  as  divine, 
because  He  could  create. 

His  teaching  was  wonderful,  not  only  in  the  way  He 
taught,  but  in  what  He  taught.  He  taught  that  He  was 
greater  than  Moses.  Think  of  the  audacity  of  it !  Mak- 
ing such  claims  as  that  to  the  Jews,  who  regarded  Moses 
as  being  almost  divine.  Think  of  the  audacity  of  some 
man  of  obscure  and  humble  parentage  standing  before 
us  Americans  and  trying  to  make  us  think  he  was 
greater  than  George  Washington. 

Jesus  also  declared  that  He  fulfilled  the  prophecies 
and  the  law  of  Moses,  and  the  only  effort  He  ever  made 
to  prove  His  claim  was  to  point  to  the  works  that  He 
did.  The  first  thing  an  impostor  always  does  is  to  over- 
prove  his  case.  Jesus  never  turned  His  hand  over  to 
try  to  convince  His  enemies  that  He  was  the  Christ. 
You  have  to  explain  a  coal-oil  lamp,  but  you  don't  need 
to  waste  any  breath  in  giving  information  about  the 
power  of  the  sun.     The  springtime  will  do  that  by  making 


278  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

all  nature  burst  into  bud,  flower  and  leaf,  and  the  power 
of  Christ  is  shown  just  as  convincingly  in  the  changed 
lives  of  men  and  women  who  believe  in  Him. 

Jesus  taught  that  all  would  be  lost  who  did  not  believe 
on  Him.  I  have  seen  multitudes  of  saved  people,  but 
I  have  yet  to  see  one  who  did  not  get  his  salvation  by 
believing  on  Christ.  Find  the  place  in  this  world  that 
comes  the  nearest  to  being  like  hell  itself,  and  you  will 
find  it  filled  with  those  who  are  haters  of  Jesus  Christ. 
You  can't  argue  it.  Go  into  saloons,  gambling  hells,  and 
such  places,  and  the  people  you  find  there  are  all  haters 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  more  of  them  you  find  the  more 
the  place  in  which  you  find  them  will  be  like  hell  itself. 

Jesus  taught  that  He  was  equal  to  God.  He  said, 
''He  that  hateth  Me  hateth  My  Father  also'*  (John 
15:23).  Did  you  ever  know  of  anybody  else  making 
such  claims?  He  said,  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
Offering  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  whole  world.  Think 
of  it !  He  said,  "  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly .''  And  He 
said,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life ;  and  he  that 
believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live. 
And  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never 
die."    Surely  He  was  wonderful  in  what  He  taught. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  He  so  stirred  them  in  the 
Capernaum  synagogue,  where  He  taught  them  not  as 
the  scribes,  but  as  one  having  authority.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  they  were  right  after  Him  for  heresy  ?  Let  any  one 
to-day  begin  to  teach  in  our  churches  something  as 
entirely  new  as  the  teachings  of  Jesus  were,  and  see  what 
will  happen. 

He  was  wonderful  in  what  He  prophesied  of  Himself. 
He  foretold  how  He  would  die,  and  when  He  would  die. 


WONDERFUL  279 

It  was  wonderful  that  He  should  have  been  betrayed  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  sought  His  life,  by  one  of  His 
own  trusted  disciples,  and  wonderful  that  He  should 
have  been  sold  for  so  low  a  price. 

Wonderful,  too,  that  He  should  have  been  condemned 
to  death  in  the  way  in  which  He  was,  by  both  the  re- 
ligious and  civil  authorities,  and  on  the  testimony  of  false 
witnesses,  in  the  name  of  God,  when  all  the  laws  of  God 
were  defied  in  the  trial.  It  was  wonderful  that  He  was 
tormented  and  tortured  so  cruelly  before  being  sent  to 
the  cross,  and  that  He  should  have  been  put  to  death  in 
the  brutal  manner  in  which  He  was.  The  time  of  His 
death  was  also  wonderful;  on  the  day  of  the  Passover, 
thus  Himself  becoming  the  real  Passover,  to  which  the 
passover  lamb  had  so  long  pointed. 

The  great  publicity  of  His  death  was  also  wonderful. 
It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  death  was  ever  witnessed  by 
so  many  people.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  were 
in  Jerusalem,  who  had  come  from  everywhere  to  attend 
the  Passover.  The  sky  was  darkened,  and  the  sun  hid 
his  face  from  the  awful  scene.  A  great  earthquake 
shook  the  city ;  the  dead  came  out  of  their  graves,  and 
went  into  the  city,  appearing  unto  many,  and  the  veil 
of  the  temple  was  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  And  re- 
member that  up  to  that  time  no  eye  had  been  allowed 
to  look  behind  that  veil,  except  that  of  the  high  priest, 
and  then  only  once  a  year,  on  the  great  Day  of  Atone- 
ment. 

His  resurrection  was  wonderful.  He  had  foretold  it 
to  His  disciples,  and  had  done  so  frequently,  always 
saying,  whenever  He  spoke  of  His  death,  that  He  would 
rise  again  on  the  third  day,  and  yet  every  one  of  them 
appeared  to  forget  all  about  it,  and  not  one  of  them  was 
expecting  it.     None  of  them  thought  of  going  to  the 


280  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

sepulcher  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  except  the 
women,  and  they  only  to  prepare  His  body  more  fully 
for  the  grave.  Womanhood  has  always  been  on  the  firing 
line. 

This  shows  how  fully  they  had  abandoned  all  hope 
when  they  saw  Him  dead.  Some  left  the  city,  for  we 
are  told  of  two  who  went  to  Emmaus.  The  manner  of 
His  resurrection  was  godlike.  No  human  mind  could 
ever  have  imagined  such  a  scene.  Had  some  man  de- 
scribed it  in  the  way  in  which  he  thought  it  should  have 
occurred,  he  would  have  had  earthquakes  and  thunders 
and  a  great  commotion  in  the  heavens.  A  sound  like 
that  of  the  last  trump  would  have  proclaimed  to  all  the 
terrified  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  that  He  was  risen.  But 
see  how  far  different  it  was. 

An  angel  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  mouth  of  the 
sepulcher  as  quietly  as  the  opening  of  the  buds  in  May, 
and  the  women,  who  were  early  there,  found  no  disorder 
in  the  grave,  but  the  linen  clothes  with  which  they  had 
tenderly  robed  His  body  were  neatly  folded  and  tidily 
placed. 

And  then  how  wonderful  are  the  recorded  appearances 
after  the  resurrection,  again  so  different  from  what  man 
would  have  had  them.  He  appeared  to  every  one  of  His 
friends,  and  to  His  best  friends,  but  not  a  single  one  of 
His  enemies  got  to  see  Him.  I  know  that  this  story 
of  the  resurrection  is  true,  because  none  but  God  would 
have  had  things  happen  in  the  order  that  they  did,  and 
in  the  way  in  which  they  occurred.  Had  the  story  been 
false  the  record  would  have  made  Jesus  go  to  Pilate  and 
the  high  priest,  and  to  the  others  who  had  put  Him  to 
death,  to  prove  that  He  was  risen. 

The  effect  of  His  teaching  upon  the  world  has  been 
wonderful.     Remember  that  He  left  no  great  colleges  to 


WONDERFUL  281 

promulgate  His  doctrines,  but  committed  them  to  a  few 
humble  fishermen,  whose  names  are  now  the  most  illus- 
trious in  all  history.  Looked  at  from  the  human  side 
alone,  how  great  was  the  probability  that  everything  He 
had  said  would  be  forgotten  within  a  few  years.  He 
never  wrote  a  sermon.  He  published  no  books.  Not  a 
thing  He  said  was  engraved  upon  stone  or  scrolled  upon 
brass,  and  yet  His  doctrines  have  endured  for  two  thou- 
sand years.  They  have  gone  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
and  have  wrought  miracles  wherever  they  have  gone. 
They  have  lifted  nations  out  of  darkness  and  degradation 
and  sin,  and  have  made  the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  the 
rose. 

When  Jesus  began  His  ministry  Rome  ruled  the  world, 
and  her  invincible  legions  were  everywhere,  but  now 
through  the  teachings  of  the  humble  Galilean  peasant, 
whom  her  minions  put  to  death,  her  power  and  her  re- 
ligion are  gone.  The  great  temple  of  Diana  of  the  Ephe- 
sians  is  in  ruins,  and  no  worshipper  of  her  can  be  found. 

When  Jesus  fed  the  five  thousand  with  a  few  loaves 
and  fishes,  and  healed  the  poor  woman  who  touched  the 
hem  of  His  garment,  there  wasn't  a  church,  or  a  hospital, 
or  an  insane  asylum,  or  other  eleemosynary  institution 
in  the  world,  and  now  they  are  nearly  as  countless  as  the 
sands  upon  the  seashore.  When  the  bright  cloud  hid 
Him  from  the  gaze  of  those  who  loved  Him  with  a  de- 
votion that  took  them  to  martyrdom,  the  only  record  of 
His  sayings  was  graven  upon  their  hearts,  but  now 
libraries  are  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  them.  No 
(words  were  ever  so  weighty  or  so  weighed  as  those  of 
Him  who  was  so  poor  that  He  had  not  where  to  lay 
His  head.  The  scholarship  of  the  world  has  sat  at  His 
feet  with  bared  head,  and  has  been  compelled  to  say 
again  and  again,  "  Never  man  spake  as  He  spake."     His 


28£  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

utterances  have  been  translated  into  every  known  tongue, 
and  have  carried  healing  on  their  wings  wherever  they 
have  gone.  No  other  book  has  ever  had  a  tithe  of  the 
circulation  of  that  which  contains  His  words,  and  not 
only  that,  but  His  thoughts  and  the  story  of  His  life 
are  so  interwoven  in  all  literature  that  if  a  man  should 
never  read  a  line  in  the  Bible,  and  yet  be  a  reader  at  all 
he  could  not  remain  ignorant  of  the  Christ. 

He  is  true  to  His  name  because  He  is  a  wonderful 
Savior  now.  You  have  only  to  lift  your  eyes  and  look 
about  you  to  see  that  His  wonderful  salvation  is  going 
on  everywhere  to-day.  This  vast  audience  throws  the 
lie  back  into  your  teeth  when  you  say  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  dying  out.  There  has  never  been  a  time 
when  the  love  of  Christ  gripped  the  hearts  of  humanity 
as  it  does  to-day. 

When  John  the  Baptist,  in  prison,  sent  two  of  his  dis- 
ciples to  Jesus,  saying :  "  Art  thou  He  that  should  come, 
or  do  we  look  for  another?"  Jesus  sent  this  answer  to 
John :  "  The  blind  receive  their  sight ;  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear;  the  dead  are  raised 
up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them  " ; 
and  that  test  of  His  power  is  as  apparent  in  nearly  every 
part  of  the  world  to-day  as  it  was  in  Galilee.  If  you 
have  eyes  to  see  the  works  of  God,  you  will  always  find 
them  going  on.  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God, 
but  there  are  people  so  blind  they  can't  see  anything  but 
a  spell  of  weather  in  the  rainbow. 

Jerry  McAuley  in  prison,  a  man  who  had  lived  by 
crime,  and  who  had  never  heard  the  name  of  God  outside 
of  profanity;  as  blind  and  dead  to  anything  good  as  a 
stone,  one  Sunday  in  the  prison  chapel  heard  a  verse  of 
Scripture  quoted  that  took  hold  of  his  attention.  He 
thought  he  would  like  to  see  it  and  read  it  for  himself. 


WONDERFUL  283 

So  he  took  the  Bible  in  his  cell  and  began  to  search  for 
it.  He  didn't  know  but  one  sure  way  to  find  it,  and  that 
was  to  begin  at  the  first  verse  in  the  Bible  and  read 
straight  on  until  he  came  to  it.  The  verse  he  wanted 
was  in  Hebrews,  away  over  in  the  back  part  of  the  New 
Testament. 

Jerry  read  on,  chapter  after  chapter,  and  day  after  day, 
looking  for  that  verse,  but  long  before  he  found  it  he 
found  Jesus  Christ — just  as  some  of  you  would  do  if 
you  would  only  be  honest  with  God,  and  give  Him  a 
chance  at  you  by  reading  His  word.  From  that  time 
on  everybody  who  came  near  Jerry  McAuley  knew  that 
the  eyes  of  the  man  born  blind  had  been  opened  in  him. 
He  started  the  Water  Street  Mission  in  New  York,  where 
I  don't  believe  a  service  was  ever  held  in  which  somebody 
was  not  converted. 

Any  number  of  men  who  were  headed  straight  for  the 
devil  are  preaching  the  gospel  to-day  because  they  were 
stopped  by  the  light  of  God  and  the  voice  of  His  Christ 
as  suddenly  at  St.  Paul  was.  Yes,  He  is  a  wonderful 
Savior  because  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  now. 

A  man  would  be  a  great  surgeon  who  could  save  ninety 
per  cent,  of  those  upon  whom  he  operated,  but  mark  this : 
Jesus  Christ  never  lost  a  case.  He  never  found  a  case 
that  was  too  hard  for  Him.  His  disciples  were  continu- 
ally finding  cases  they  thought  were  hopeless,  and  this 
shows  how  little  they  knew  Him  while  He  was  with  them. 

Jesus  never  sent  anybody  away  who  came  honestly 
and  earnestly  seeking  His  help.  They  brought  to  Him 
all  kinds  of  desperate  cases,  but  at  a  word  or  a  touch 
from  Him  their  troubles  were  all  gone.  The  hardest 
cases  were  no  more  difficult  for  Him  than  the  easiest, 
and  the  same  is  true  to-day,  for  there  is  no  change  in 
Him.     He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever.     He 


284  THE  REAL  BILLY  SUNDAY 

can  save  the  scarlet  sinner — the  man  who  commits  murder 
— as  easily  as  He  can  the  woman  who  cheats  at  cards. 

He  is  a  wonderful  Savior,  too,  because  He  can  save 
so  quickly.  Quicker  than  thought  He  can  give  you  life. 
It  is  only,  look  and  live.  As  quick  as  you  can  come  He 
receives  you,  and  as  quickly  as  you  could  receive  a  present 
you  had  been  wanting  for  years,  you  can  have  salvation. 
"  Him  that  comcth  to  Me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out.'' 
"  To  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God."  No  need  of  taking  very 
much  time  about  that. 

In  a  meeting  Thomas  Harrison  was  holding,  a  railroad 
engineer  came  forward  with  his  watch  in  his  hand  and 
said,  "  Mr.  Harrison,  can  I  be  saved  in  ten  minutes  ?  I 
must  leave  here  to  take  my  train  out  then." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Harrison,  "  you  can  be  saved  in  ten 
seconds."  The  man  dropped  on  his  knees,  was  quickly 
saved  and  had  seven  minutes  to  spare.  A  conductor  on 
a  fast  Pennsylvania  train,  in  Ohio,  was  converted  while 
crossing  a  bridge  fifty  feet  long,  when  going  at  the  rate 
of  a  mile  a  minute.  Yes,  indeed,  He  is  a  wonderful 
Savior  because  He  can  save  so  quickly. 

Moody  used  to  tell  of  a  banker  in  San  Francisco,  who 
was  awakened  in  the  night  by  a  burglar  at  his  bedside. 
The  robber  held  a  revolver  almost  against  his  face,  and 
said,  "If  you  move  I'll  kill  you ! "  The  banker  said, 
"  God  have  mercy  on  my  soul !  "  and  knocked  the  burglar 
down  before  he  could  pull  the  trigger,  and  was  soundly 
converted  before  the  man  struck  the  floor,  as  his  life 
afterward  proved. 

And  now  I  come  to  the  last  evidence  I  will  give  you 
that  He  is  true  to  His  name,  and  that  is — 

He  is  a  wonderful  Savior  because  He  saved  me.  There 
is  nothing  that  can  be  so  convincing  to  a  man  as  his  own 


WONDERFUL  ^85 

experience.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  the  son  of  my 
mother  any  more  certainly  than  I  know  that  I  am  a  child 
of  God,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  been  born  in  a 
natural  way  any  more  convincingly  than  I  know  that  I 
have  been  born  of  the  Spirit. 

And  now  let  me  ask  you  this:  Has  this  wonderful 
Savior  saved  you?  Do  you  know  Him  as  your  Savior? 
Have  you  ever  given  Him  your  case?  When  the  proof 
is  so  overwhelming  that  He  does  save,  and  has  been 
saving  for  centuries,  and  that  none  have  ever  been  saved 
or  ever  can  be  saved  except  through  Him,  is  it  not  won- 
derful that  any  one  can  be  indifferent  to  the  claims  of 
Jesus  Christ? 


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Three  Groups 

Moral  Lepers 

What  Shall  the  End  Be  ? 

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